Saudi Says Macron Remarks about Hariri being Detained in Riyadh ‘False’
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday slammed as “incorrect” remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron that Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri had been detained in Riyadh back in November.
“Remarks made by His Excellency the French President during an interview with broadcaster BFM TV that the kingdom had detained Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is not true,” Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Twitter.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always and will continue to support Lebanon’s stability and security, and will back PM Hariri by all means,” it added.
“All the evidence confirms that those who are dragging Lebanon and the region into instability are Iran and their instruments such terrorist Hizbullah, the militia involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the killing of French nationals in Lebanon,” added the statement.
In remarks made to BFM TV, Macron said: “ Hariri was held in Saudi Arabia for several weeks,” and that if it was not for France’s intervention “there probably would be a war in Lebanon at this moment.”
In November, Hariri while in Riyadh, submitted a shock resignation as prime minister arguing that he feared assassination and criticizing the Saudis’ regional rival Iran and Hizbullah.
The resignation, which Hariri eventually rescinded, was widely blamed on Saudi Arabia and was seen as part of an intensifying power struggle between the Saudi kingdom -- which had long backed Hariri -- and its regional rival Iran, which backs Hizbullah.
French President Emmanuel Macron intervened to try defuse the crisis, inviting Hariri to Paris for talks, after which he returned to Beirut to a hero's welcome.
Two weeks later, following consultations with the various political groups in Lebanon, Hariri announced he was withdrawing his resignation.
Source: Naharnet
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