Saudis deny PM Hariri under house arrest , “was received as head of state by the king”

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s meetings in the Saudi capital Riyadh with ambassadors of major Western countries foiled an Iranian campaign,  carried out by Hezbollah, to  promotes the idea  that Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia to confuse Riyadh’s plan to build a wider regional and international alliance to pressure Tehran and stop its intervention,  in the affairs of regional States.

 

Hariri’s office said in a statement that he had received the French ambassador to Saudi Arabia on Thursday. He also met with the head of the European Union delegation to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and met the British ambassador and the US charge d’affaires Tuesday.

The Future Movement urged  its leader Hariri to return to Lebanon. In a  statement  it said that it fully supports Hariri and his leadership .

A Gulf political source, through the London Arab newspaper, called on the Future bloc to understand that the current crisis in Lebanon is not accidental and will not be solved by repeating what was happening in the pre-crisis solutions.

Hezbollah leaders   promoted the news of Hariri’s “detention” in Saudi Arabia and pushed senior government officials in Lebanon to promote the idea , reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s position that Lebanon is under the hegemony of Hezbollah and Iran.

The Saudi minister of state for Arab Gulf affairs, Thamer al-Sbahan, asked:  “How can anyone  believe that PM   Saad al-Hariri is under house arrest. He received the reception of  heads of state  at Al-Yamamah Palace by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abd Allah Aziz?

Al-Sibhan said that Saudi Arabia is the country of Saad Hariri and the next few days will prove the false allegations made by Hezbollah axis that Saad Hariri is under house arrest or has been forced to resign.

This comes at a time when Riyadh asked the Saudis in Lebanon to leave the country as soon as possible, and advised its citizens not to travel to Lebanon from any international destination.

“Given the situation in the Republic of Lebanon, the Kingdom is asking its visiting citizens and residents in Lebanon to leave at the earliest possible opportunity. Citizens are advised not to travel to Lebanon from any international point of view,” the source said.

Saudi Arabia’s travel ban  has  expanded to rest of the GCC countries  . Kuwait ,  UAE  and Bahrain also  asked their citizens in Lebanon to leave the country as soon as possible, and  not to travel to Lebanon from any international destination.

 

Hezbollah reportedly will pressure the Lebanese political parties  to quickly choose a new prime minister from the party’s Sunni allies, albeit against the will of the Sunni political class, because the political vacuum does not suit the party, which recognizes that it needs a government cover to face new international sanctions. Which is expected to be endorsed by Saudi Arabia, the United States and European countries.

Observers expect that Washington and Riyadh will  move to persuade some European countries to stop distinguishing between Hezbollah’s military and political wings  and to deal with them as a terrorist organization.