More than a week after his shocking resignation, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri gave a much-anticipated interview on Sunday in which he vowed to shortly return to his home country while leaving the door open to resuming his duties as premier. In an appearance on Future TV, a network associated with his political party, Hariri said he planned to return to Lebanon to confirm his resignation, in accordance with the constitution, before qualifying that he could rescind his decision if Hizbullah—the military and political power in the country—agreed to stay out of regional conflicts. The Iranian-backed Shiite group, which is at the center of the current Lebanese crisis, remains enmeshed in the Syrian conflict in support of President Bashar al-Assad and also has fighters in both Iraq and Yemen, where ongoing Riyadh-Tehran tensions continue to play out in proxy wars and parallel diplomatic battles for political influence. Hariri’s original November 4 announcement from Riyadh triggered a political crisis in Lebanon and gave rise to rumors that he was coerced into quitting and being held under house arrest by the Saudis. Although he met with various foreign ambassadors in the days that followed, Hariri remained out of the public eye, leading some to believe his freedom of movement was being restricted.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
