Hariri held 'positive' meeting with Bassil, all ideas on table

Lebanon’s Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as prime minister last week, had a positive meeting with leading politician haririon Wednesday and all ideas were discussed for getting the country out of economic crisis, a source close to Hariri said, Reuters reports.

Hariri’s resignation was prompted by an unprecedented wave of protests against the ruling elite that has swept Lebanon since Oct. 17, tipping it into political turmoil at a time of acute economic crisis.

“All ideas were put on the table for what would be best for Lebanon to come out of the economic crisis and what would best heed the calls made by protesters in the past three weeks,” the source said of the meeting at Hariri’s Beirut residence.

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It was their second meeting there in three days.

Communication would remain open with Bassil and all other political groups “over the next hours and days, round the clock, to come up with the best possible solution for the economic and financial difficulties”, the source added.

Bassil, a son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, was foreign minister in the outgoing Hariri cabinet and is a political ally of the powerful, Iran-backed Shi’ite group Hezbollah.