Lebanon: The Adventures of a Prime Minister (Part 1)

I mentioned in a previous blog how on November 4th the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned.


Let's try to follow the adventures that happened after that date.  Per the Irish Times, after Hariri resigned and was either under house arrest or not in Saudi Arabia, French President Emmanuel Macron was in Riyadh on the 9th and 10th of November. There was an airport meeting between Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). (Note that the Irish Times article states the resignation happened on the 14th, which is a typo.)

The New York Times adds additional color on France's involvement. A week after Macron's talk with MBS, the French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met with Hariri in Saudi Arabia. Per the article, there were additional discussions involving France and Middle East leaders:

. . . Mr. Macron was having “direct and frequent” contacts with leaders in the region, including President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, according to officials in the French president’s office.

Then on Saturday, November 18th, Hariri left Saudi Arabia and met with Macron in France.

Then on Tuesday, November 21st, Hariri went to Egypt and Cyprus. (Reuters links).

Reuters doesn't say much about what was discussed in Egypt, but Hariri did meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The article does have this quote regarding Egypt's general position:

Sisi . . . has stressed his backing for Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab allies who have helped with aid since he ousted a government led by the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. But he has also said Egypt is not considering measures against Hezbollah despite Saudi demands for sanctions against the Lebanese group.

Cyprus issued a very generic statement that read: Our common objective is stability in Lebanon, stability in our area. And the Reuters article mentioned that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades was invited to visit Saudi Arabia.

The Washington Post and The LA Times articles discuss how Hariri arrived back in Lebanon on Wednesday, November 22nd, and declared that he wasn't going to immediately resign.

Part 2: theories on his resignation and non-resignation coming up in the near future.