Hariri attends Lebanon’s Independence Day celebration

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Lebanon is celebrating its Independence Day with a military parade attended by the president and the prime minister, Saad Hariri, who resigned while in Saudi Arabia earlier this month in a move that stunned the country.

Wednesday’s parade came hours after Prime Minster Hariri returned to Lebanon after a three-week absence that was described by Lebanese officials as forced upon him by his Saudi allies.

Hariri's sudden resignation on November 4 thrust Lebanon to the forefront of regional tussle between the Sunni monarchy of Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Islamist Iran, whose powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah is part of the government.

Hariri was greeted by members of the security forces as he disembarked from a jet at Beirut airport, live footage of his arrival showed.

Saad Hariri is seen at the grave of his father, assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, in downtown Beirut, Nov. 21, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Hariri, a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia, cited fear of assassination and meddling by Iran and Hezbollah in the Arab world in his resignation speech. The move caught even his aides off guard, and politicians close to him say Riyadh forced him to quit and held him in Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh and Hariri have denied this.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept the resignation until Hariri returned to present it in person.

Earlier, Hariri met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, saying after the meeting that he would announce his "political position" in Lebanon.

In a November 12 interview from Saudi Arabia with Future TV, a station affiliated with his political party, Hariri said he would return to Lebanon to confirm his resignation.

But he also held out the possibility of withdrawing it if Hezbollah respected Lebanon's policy of staying out of regional conflicts such as Yemen.

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Source(s): AP ,Reuters