Lebanese PM Saad Hariri suspends resignation

The Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, has said he is suspending the resignation that he announced two weeks ago from Saudi Arabia, easing a crisis that had deepened tensions around the Middle East.

“Our nation today needs at this sensitive time exceptional efforts from everyone to protect it against danger,” Hariri said during independence day celebrations, having returned to Beirut late on Tuesday. “We must dissociate from wars, external struggles and regional conflicts.”

The unusual nature of Hariri’s surprise resignation on 4 November prompted fears that he had been forced to leave office under the orders of his regional backers and that he had been held against his will in Saudi Arabia.

It came against the backdrop of a regional power tussle between the Saudis and Iran, and renewed Saudi condemnation of Hezbollah, Hariri’s partners in government.

The postponement of his resignation will offer a brief respite for the Lebanese, who are struggling with the spillover from the war in Syria, tensions arising from Hezbollah’s participation in the conflict alongside Bashar al-Assad, and a large refugee population in a country already riven by sectarian divisions.

After his announcement, Hariri supporters marched through central Beirut, chanting “Saad” and waving the blue flag of his Future Movement political party.

A convoy of honking cars, some painted blue and others plastered with pictures of Hariri, zipped through the streets. Hundreds also gathered at his house in Beirut, to welcome him back.

Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, had said he would not accept Hariri’s resignation unless he presented it in person, saying that he was acting on the assumption that Hariri had been forcibly kept in Riyadh.

The crisis had threatened to splinter Hariri’s support base and plunge Lebanon, long a battleground for larger regional powers, into turmoil. France, which had a former mandate power over Lebanon, also intervened, with President Emmanuel Macron holding talks in Riyadh with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and later inviting Hariri to the Élysée Palace.

The Lebanese PM eventually conducted a whirlwind tour of Paris, Cairo and Cyprus before landing in Beirut just before midnight on Tuesday, amid breathless coverage from Lebanese media outlets.

On Wednesday, Hariri said he presented his resignation to Aoun at the presidential palace, but then responded to Aoun’s request to take more time for consultations, “hoping it will constitute a serious introduction for [national] dialogue”.

He reiterated the need for Lebanon to remain neutral on regional disputes and conflicts “and all that undermines internal stability and brotherly relations with Arab brothers”.

Top Lebanese officials had accused Hariri’s patron, Saudi Arabia, of forcing his resignation and detaining him in the kingdom for days. The Lebanese rallied around Hariri, unanimously calling for his return from Saudi Arabia in what became an embarrassment to the kingdom.

Hariri had said he was resigning due to Hezbollah and Iran’s domination over Lebanon and because of alleged threats to his life. His father, Rafik, was assassinated in 2005 in downtown Beirut in a massive bombing, and an international tribunal indicted five members of Hezbollah in connection with the case.

Hariri’s announcement suggests that Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince realised he had overreached by firing Hariri, which constituted another failed move to try to counter Iran.

His resignation was followed by a steep escalation in Saudi statements against the Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah. Riyadh said the Lebanese government as a whole, not just Hezbollah, had declared war against it.

Western governments including the US struck a different tone, affirming their support for Hariri and Lebanon and the stability of the country, which is hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees – nearly one in four of the Lebanese population.