Saudi king receives ex-Lebanon PM Hariri in Riyadh

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Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in Riyadh on Monday following his resignation, Saudi media reported.

Hariri unexpectedly resigned on Saturday during a trip to Saudi Arabia, saying his life was in danger, and creating a leadership vacuum in an already politically fractured country.

He highlighted in Riyadh that he feared an assassination plot and accused Iran of meddling in the region, causing devastation and chaos.

"King Salman met the resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri a short while ago," a presenter on Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud shakes hands with former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri during their meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 6, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Hariri’s resignation toppled a coalition government that included Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, thrusting Lebanon back into the frontline of the Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry and risking an open-ended political crisis.

Some analysts think that the resignation is the beginning of a US-Saudi military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

State news agency SPA carried pictures of Hariri and King Salman greeting each other and then sitting together in a palatial setting.

Hariri's surprise resignation in a televised speech aired on al-Arabiya TV had drawn criticism and was met with controversy in Beirut. Some have even questioned whether Hariri’s resignation was voluntary.

Lebanese Justice Minister Salim Jreissati said on Monday that Lebanon’s president would not take any steps regarding Hariri’s resignation before Hariri returns from abroad, stressing that "the resignation must be voluntary."

Lebanese President Michel Aoun holds a meeting with ministers and security officials at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, November 6, 2017. /Reuters Photo

President Michel Aoun said earlier on Monday that political leaders had been responsive to calls for calm, strengthening security and national unity after Hariri’s resignation.

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Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency