WASHINGTON _ Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose sudden resignation in Saudi Arabia sparked fears of an escalating regional conflict between the kingdom and Iran, may travel to France after receiving an invitation from President Emmanuel Macron.
Hariri, who hasn't returned to Lebanon since his announcement on Nov. 4, will arrive in France in the "coming days," Agence France-Presse reported, citing a source in the Elysee palace. Macron added a stop in Saudi Arabia to an international trip late last week in a sign of growing international concern over Hariri's surprise move and its implications for regional peace.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun called Hariri a Saudi "hostage" on Wednesday and said the developments are "an act of aggression against us and our independence."
In limited public comments and on Twitter, Hariri has sought to dispel speculation that Saudi Arabia demanded he resign because he wouldn't confront Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim group that plays a key role in Lebanon's fragile government. The group is considered a terrorist organization by countries including Israel and the U.S., and it has provided crucial military support to President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria's civil war.
Oqab Saqr, a lawmaker representing Hariri's Future Movement, said Hariri had sent him a message saying he and his family haven't been detained and that the kingdom doesn't harbor hostile intentions toward Lebanon.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hariri reiterated on Twitter his intention to return to Lebanon "as I have promised you," a pledge he first made on Sunday in a television interview with his family's Future TV.
Hariri's resignation has raised tensions in Lebanon, historically a battleground for proxy conflicts, as the showdown between Saudi Arabia and Iran increasingly dominates regional politics. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon, raising fears that conflict could be imminent.
The international developments followed Saudi Arabia's controversial domestic decision to detain princes and billionaires accused of corruption by the government. Some analysts have described the development as a power grab by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi officials have rejected those accusations.
Aoun said Hariri assured him in a phone call this week that he'd return to Lebanon in two to three days. The president said he hadn't been able to communicate with Hariri since.
In televised comments aired later, Aoun said Hariri isn't free to "express himself" and "we now have the right to take the measures that will get him out of there." Aoun added that Hariri's family members were also detained.
The Lebanese president has sent Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on a tour of European capitals to lobby on the government's behalf. In remarks from Rome, Bassil said the latest developments jeopardize the stability of Lebanon and, by extension, the region. He said Lebanon shouldn't return to being a country where "external forces and foreign countries settle their accounts."
"If Saudi Arabia has a problem with Iran or with Hezbollah they have to solve it with Iran, not with Lebanon and not with all the Lebanese," Bassil said at a news conference with his Italian counterpart.
