Hariri Returns to Beirut: Ties with Saudi Won't be Affected by Attempts to Harm Them

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri returned to Beirut overnight from a several-week foreign trip during which he shuttled between Europe and Saudi Arabia.

Hariri had hailed the Lebanese-Saudi relations in an interview with the kingdom's official news agency that coincided with the Saudi National Day.

“The kingdom has always been keen on supporting and assisting the Lebanese, without exceptions, to enable Lebanon to overcome its internal crises and problems and to preserve its security and stability,” Hariri said.

He stressed that the ties between the two countries “will not be affected by the attempts of some parties to harm them through insulting the kingdom's role and distorting its reputation over well-known regional calculations.”

“The majority of Lebanese are keen on the continuation of this relation which is in the interest of the two brotherly countries and peoples,” the ex-PM added.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.