Saad Hariri Skirts Lebanon to Visit Paris Instead

Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri accepts Macron’s invitation to France | DW |

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri will travel to France at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

“He will come to France and the prince has been informed,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday in Riyadh, referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Asked about the date of the trip, Le Drian replied, “Mr. Hariri’s schedule is a matter for Mr. Hariri.” An official at the French president’s office said Hariri was expected in the coming days.

Speaking alongside Le Drian, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Hariri could leave Saudi Arabia when he pleases.
“The resigned Lebanese prime minister is living in Saudi Arabia of his own free will. He is the one who decides on his return to Lebanon,” he said.

No exile offered

Lebanese President Michael Aoun welcomed the announcement. He said on Thursday that he hoped Hariri’s eventual return from France would end the country’s ongoing political crisis.

“I am awaiting the return of Prime Minister Hariri from Paris for us to decide the next step with regards to the government,” he said.

Speaking to journalists in Bonn where Macron was attending the COP23 climate summit, the French president had said on Wednesday that Hariri and his family had been invited to spend “a few days” in France but he was not offering Hariri political exile.

It was essential, Macron said, to dispel fears that Saudi Arabia had taken the Lebanese leader prisoner. “We need to have leaders who are free to express themselves,” said Macron. “It’s important that [Hariri] is able to advance the political process in his country in the coming days and weeks.”