Saad al-Hariri being held, claims president of Lebanon

Lebanese president Michel Aoun said on Sunday that Saad al-Hariri’s freedom was being restricted in Riyadh, the first time the Lebanese government has publicly declared its belief that Saudi Arabia is holding its prime minister against his will. Mr Aoun said Mr Hariri was living in “mysterious circumstances” in Riyadh which had “reached the degree of restricting [his] freedom” and “imposing conditions on his residency and on contact with him even by members of his family”. Reuters cited senior Lebanese government officials on Thursday saying the authorities believed Mr Hariri was being held against his will in Riyadh, where he unexpectedly resigned as prime minister on November 4th, the day after arriving there.

Forced to resign

Mr Aoun said this threw doubt over anything Mr Hariri has said, or will say, and his statements could not be considered as an expression of his full free will. Mr Hariri is expected to give a televised interview later on Sunday. Saudi Arabia has denied he is being held against his will or that he had been forced to resign.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has called for an urgent meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo next week to discuss Iran’s intervention in the region, an official league source told Egypt’s Mena state news agency on Sunday. The call came after the resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister pushed Beirut back into the centre of a rivalry between Sunni kingdom Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran and heightened regional tensions. – Reuters