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Lebanon: Hariri’s retirement allows Hezbollah, Iran to run free, warns politician 

January 25, 2022 at 9:05 am

Former Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Moscow, Russia on 16 April 2021 [Russian Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency]

Saad Hariri’s recent decision to suspend his political activities is “very sad”, prominent politician and the leader of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party said yesterday.

Walid Jumblatt told Reuters that Hariri was the government’s representation of “independence and moderation,” warning that his decision would “unleash Hezbollah and Iran in Lebanon.”

The Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah bloc and its allies in Lebanon won a majority in the last parliamentary elections held in 2018.

Hariri – a Sunni Muslim leader – said yesterday that he would step back from political life and that he would not run in the parliamentary election. He also called on his party not to run in May’s ballot.

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