President Aoun calls Saudi detention of Hariri ‘aggression against Lebanon’

Lebanese President Michel Aoun says Saudi Arabia is holding Prime Minister Saay Hariri, calling the detention as an act of aggression against his country and a violation of international human rights regulations.

“Nothing justifies Hariri’s lack of return for 12 days. We therefore consider him detained. This is a violation of the Vienna agreements and human rights law,” Aoun said at a meeting with Lebanese journalists and media executives.

Aoun underlined the need for Hariri’s immediate return to Lebanon, saying, “We cannot wait a long time for Hariri’s return, we cannot stop the state’s work.”

Later on Wednesday, Hariri repeated his previous statements that he would return home. "I want to repeat and affirm that I am perfectly fine and I will return, God willing, to dear Lebanon as I promised you, you'll see," he wrote on Twitter.

Hariri announced his surprise resignation in Riyadh on November 4, shortly after traveling to Saudi Arabia. The televised announcement saw him reading out from a statement.

Lebanese government officials and senior sources close to Hariri believe that Riyadh forced him to step down and placed him under effective house arrest since he touched down in Saudi Arabia on November 3, a day before he announced his shock resignation.

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry has pledged to keep up pressure on Saudi Arabia not to impede Hariri’s return, the al-Akhbar paper reported, citing sources within the ministry.

SS