‘Positive’ signs in Lebanon so Hariri may withdraw resignation

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri said today that matters were “positive” and if that continued, he would withdraw his resignation next week, a statement from his press office said.

Earlier, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that Hariri will “certainly” remain prime minister and Lebanon’s political crisis will be resolved in a few days, Italy’s La Stampa newspaper reported.

“We have just finished talks with all the political forces, within and outside government. There is a broad agreement,” the daily quoted him as saying during a visit to Italy.

Hariri resigned in a televised statement while he was in Saudi Arabia on 4 November, prompting a political crisis in Lebanon and thrusting it back into a regional tussle between Riyadh and its main regional foe Iran.

Read: Report: Hariri’s financial empire is collapsing

Aoun did not accept his resignation, accusing Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri in Riyadh and forcing him to step down. Hariri eventually returned to Beirut on 22 November and postponed his resignation.

Hariri said on Monday that he would stay on as prime minister if Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah accepted a policy of staying out of regional conflicts.

Asked about that demand, Aoun – a Hezbollah ally – said: “Hezbollah has fought against Islamic State [Daesh] terrorists in Lebanon and abroad. But when the war against terrorism is finished, their fighters will come back to the country,” La Stampa reported.

The group has fought alongside President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces in Syria against opposition groups seeking to oust him, including factions that were backed by Saudi Arabia.