Lebanon PM Hariri visits UAE as home crisis escalates

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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday, his first trip outside Saudi Arabia, as regional tensions aggravated by his surprise resignation escalated into a domestic crisis.

Hariri, earlier on Tuesday flew to Abu Dhabi and then returned to Riyadh, his office said. His Future TV channel said he would also visit Bahrain.

He was also received by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Monday.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud meets with former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia November 6, 2017. /Reuters Photo

His resignation has thrust Lebanon back into the frontline of a Middle East rivalry pitting a mostly Sunni bloc led by Saudi Arabia and allied Gulf monarchies against Shiite Iran and its allies.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia accused Lebanon of declaring war against it because of aggression by Iran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, dramatically escalating the crisis and threatening to destabilize Lebanon.

Lebanese politicians and Hezbollah were on Tuesday silent about the escalation in Saudi rhetoric after a series of consultations with President Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun meets with former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, November 7, 2017. /Reuters Photo

A rocket fired from Yemen was intercepted on the outskirts of Riyadh hours after Hariri's resignation on Saturday. On Monday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN the rocket "was an Iranian missile launched by Hezbollah."

Hariri's resignation collapses a national unity government agreed last year in a political deal that united Lebanon's opposing sides and led to the country's first budget since 2005 and agreement on a new law for parliamentary elections, which could be derailed by the crisis.

Aoun has said he will not accept Hariri's resignation until he returns to Lebanon to explain his thinking – a move widely seen as a stalling tactic.

Hezbollah and its allies will struggle to form a government without Hariri or his blessing. The post of prime minister must be filled by a member of Lebanon's Sunni community, among which he is the most influential politician.

Source(s): Reuters