After landing in Paris, Hariri announces return to Lebanon
Lebanon's resigned PM Hariri lands in Paris on Saturday for talks with French Pres. Macron; Lebanese Pres. Aoun, an ally of Hezbollah, tweets that Hariri told him he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday to celebrate country's Independence Day; Hariri resigned as Lebanese PM while in Saudi Arabia, plunging Lebanon into crisis, accusing Hezbollah of disrupting the region.
In a televised speech, Hariri said there was a plot to kill him, and accused Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah and its Iranian backers of sowing strife in the Arab world. Hezbollah then accused Saudi Arabia of forcing Hariri to quit.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun, an ally of Hezbollah, tweeted on Saturday that Hariri told him in a phone call he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for the country's Independence Day.
Following Hariri's meeting with Macron on Saturday, he and his wife, Lara, and eldest son, Hussam, are due to attend a lunch in his honor.
Macron said on Friday he would welcome Hariri to Paris on Saturday as Lebanon's prime minister and expected him to return to Beirut in the "coming days, weeks."
Hariri's abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia caused fears over Lebanon's stability. His visit to France with his family is seen as part of a possible way out of the crisis.
Okab Saqr, a member of parliament for Hariri's Future Movement, had said that after Hariri's visit to France he would have "a small Arab tour" before travelling to Beirut.
The current crisis has thrust Lebanon into the bitter rivalry pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.
Lebanese President Aoun has called Hariri a Saudi hostage and refused to accept his resignation unless he returns to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and Hariri say his movements are not restricted.
The statement did not mention Hariri's younger son, Abdul-Aziz, and daughter Loulwa.
Lebanese local media outlets say Hariri's younger children are still in Saudi Arabia where they are attending school.
Hariri's older son, Hussam, studies in Britain and arrived in Paris to meet his parents.
Hariri's cousin and close aide, Nader Hariri, was seen walking into the Paris residence Saturday morning. Nader Hariri told the local LBC TV that he arrived alone in Paris without other family members from Lebanon.
