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French President has invited Saad Hariri and his family to France, and he is expected to leave Saudi Arabia for France within 48 hours, before flying home to Beirut to officially submit his resignation as Lebanese prime minister, a source close to Hariri told Reuters on Thursday.
The French intervention has definitely cooled the tempers across the region.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that he looked forward for stability following Hariri’s acceptance of french invitation. In his tweet he said that he was hoping to find out reason and circumstances of Hariri’s resignation.
سررت بإعلان الرئيس الحريري عن قرب عودته الى لبنان، وعندها سنطّلع منه على كافة الظروف والمواضيع والهواجس التي تحتاج الى معالجة.
— General Michel Aoun (@General_Aoun) November 13, 2017
The entire middle east has been on edge ever since Hariri resigned in a televised address from Saudi Arabia, while being on a sate visit there. The actions that followed created a unique moment of national unity within Lebanon, wherein both the Hezbollah and Sunni Arabs saw actions of Saudis as insult to their nation.
With saber rattling across the region, a war between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia seemed all but inevitable, however the European behind the scene negotiations seem to have greatly helped towards taking steps towards normalcy.
While French insist that the offer is not one of exile, from the looks of it, it is a exile for the PM of Lebanon and the great game goes on.
