UN: Lebanon’s Hariri was tortured in Saudi Arabia

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud (L) and Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri (R) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on 1 June 2019 [BANDAR ALGALOUD/SAUDI KINGDOM COUNCIL/Anadolu Agency]

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri had been “personally interrogated and threatened” in Saudi Arabia in October 2017, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) announced yesterday

The report, issued by the rights activist Agnes Callamard, pointed out that a Saudi official, Saud Alqahtani was “one of two officials who were involved in attempting to force Hariri to resign during his detention in a private residence on the compound of the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh.”

“Hariri had been the victim of psychological torture and treatment which may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading,” Callamard added.

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Middle East Eye quoted well-informed official sources that Hariri was also “verbally humiliated and beaten” during his detention.

Hariri, who holds Saudi citizenship, had initially resigned in a live televised statement from Saudi Arabia, where his family live. He said he was stepping down as premier to protest against Hezbollah and Iran’s domination of Lebanon.

The resignation was widely rejected in Lebanon as false and made under duress, with President Michel Aoun calling on Hariri to return back home.

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