By Theguardian.com Kareem Shaheen — The Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, has said he is suspending the resignation that he announced two weeks ago from Saudi Arabia, easing a crisis that had deepened tensions around the Middle East. “Our nation today needs at this sensitive time exceptional efforts from everyone to protect it against danger,” Hariri said during independence day celebrations, having returned to Beirut late on Tuesday. “We must dissociate from wars, external struggles and regional conflicts.” The unusual nature of Hariri’s surprise resignation on 4 November prompted fears that he had been forced to leave office under the orders of his regional backers and that he had been held against his will in Saudi Arabia. It came against the backdrop of a regional power tussle between the Saudis and Iran, and renewed Saudi condemnation of Hezbollah, Hariri’s partners in government. The postponement of his resignation will offer a brief respite for the Lebanese, who are struggling with the spillover from the war in Syria, tensions arising from Hezbollah’s participation in the conflict alongside Bashar al-Assad, and a large refugee population in a country already riven by sectarian divisions. After his announcement, Hariri supporters marched through central Beirut, chanting “Saad” and waving the blue flag of his Future Movement political party. A convoy of honking cars, some painted blue and others plastered with pictures of Hariri, zipped through the streets. Hundreds also gathered at his house in Beirut, to welcome him back. Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, had said he would not accept Hariri’s resignation unless he presented it in person, saying that he was acting on the assumption that Hariri had been forcibly kept in Riyadh. The crisis had threatened to splinter Hariri’s support base and plunge Lebanon, long a battleground for larger regional powers, into turmoil. France, which had a former mandate power over Lebanon, also intervened, with President Emmanuel Macron holding talks in Riyadh with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and later inviting Hariri to the Élysée Palace. The Lebanese PM eventually conducted a whirlwind tour of Paris, Cairo and Cyprus before landing in Beirut just before midnight on Tuesday, amid breathless coverage from Lebanese media outlets. On Wednesday, Hariri said he presented his resignation to Aoun at the presidential palace, but then responded to Aoun’s request to take more time for consultations, “hoping it will constitute a serious introduction for [national] dialogue”.
He reiterated the need for Lebanon to remain neutral on regional disputes and conflicts “and all that undermines internal stability and brotherly relations with Arab brothers”. Top Lebanese officials had accused Hariri’s patron, Saudi Arabia, of forcing his resignation and detaining him in the kingdom for days. The Lebanese rallied around Hariri, unanimously calling for his return from Saudi Arabia in what became an embarrassment to the kingdom. Hariri had said he was resigning due to Hezbollah and Iran’s domination over Lebanon and because of alleged threats to his life. His father, Rafik, was assassinated in 2005 in downtown Beirut in a massive bombing, and an international tribunal indicted five members of Hezbollah in connection with the case. Hariri’s announcement suggests that Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince realised he had overreached by firing Hariri, which constituted another failed move to try to counter Iran. His resignation was followed by a steep escalation in Saudi statements against the Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah. Riyadh said the Lebanese government as a whole, not just Hezbollah, had declared war against it. Western governments including the US struck a different tone, affirming their support for Hariri and Lebanon and the stability of the country, which is hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees – nearly one in four of the Lebanese population.
By AP- By Sarah El Deeb and Philip Issa |- The Saudi crown prince, who has the blessing of his father, King Salman, has taken a much harder line against the Sunni kingdom’s main rival — Shiite power Iran, which has spread its influence in the Arab region in recent years. The crown prince, who is also defense minister, has a reputation for being impulsive. He has led Saudi Arabia into a nearly three-year-long war in Yemen to try and push back Iranian-allied rebels there. A global outcry by aid groups over the tightening of a Saudi blockade in Yemen prompted the Saudis to say they would lift restrictions on urgently-needed humanitarian supplies. But Hariri’s retraction is not a total loss for the Gulf kingdom, which can point to the newly invigorated debate, mainly in Lebanon, over the extent of Hezbollah’s regional influence, and its formidable military capabilities that rival those of the Lebanese Army. The group, operating independently of Lebanon’s government, has been fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the brutal civil war next door. Many of Assad’s enemies are rebels backed by Saudi Arabia. The kingdom claims Hezbollah is also advising Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen, in their war against that country’s Saudi-backed government.
It remains to be seen what Hariri is demanding and how much room there is to negotiate in order “to at least arrive at some sort of acceptable modus vivendi,” she said. “Putting the resignation on hold now means there is still room for backdoor negotiations to try and figure a way out of this,” Yahya said. Hariri’s reversal appears to be a culmination of nearly three weeks of international pressure to restore Lebanon’s delicate political configuration, and return Hariri to Beirut. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has shown a keenness to restore France’s influence in the Middle East, flew to Saudi Arabia to meet Hariri days after his resignation, then sat with Salman and Crown Prince. Days later, the White House issued a statement calling Hariri a “trusted partner” to the United States, adding pressure on Saudi Arabia to clarify the situation. Macron’s mediation succeeded in getting Hariri out of the kingdom. Hariri was in Paris on Saturday, then, on Tuesday, he traveled to Egypt and Cyprus, meeting with Presidents Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and Nicos Anastasiades. Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper, which boasts deep contacts in the region despite its anti-Saudi stand, reported that officials in Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait — allies of Saudi Arabia — were alarmed by the Saudi crown prince’s recent regional maneuvers. Cypriot government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said in remarks to the private Sigma radio station that Hariri’s visit to Larnaca was “neither by chance or a surprise.” “The common aim is stability in Lebanon,” he told The Associated Press. Posters erected around Beirut and other cities welcomed Hariri’s return. “God give him a long life and protect him,” said Ali Mohiedeen, one of a few thousand well-wishers and party supporters arrived at Hariri’s central Beirut residence on Wednesday afternoon. About Hezbollah, he said: “It’s time they handover their weapons, it’s time they submit to the realities.” And as for Hariri, “Sheikh Saad, the step he took, he should have taken it a long time ago,” said Mohiedeen.
