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Hariri: I Am Returning to Lebanon Soon

A woman and her daughter pass by a poster of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A woman and her daughter pass by a poster of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Hariri: I Am Returning to Lebanon Soon

A woman and her daughter pass by a poster of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A woman and her daughter pass by a poster of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanon’s resigned Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced on Sunday he is returning to Lebanon in days.

In a live interview with “Future TV”, from his residence in Riyadh, Hariri strongly responded to claims he was held hostage by confirming he was free to return from Saudi Arabia. “I can leave tomorrow if I want.”

The resigned prime minister also said he wrote the statement of his resignation himself as he wanted to produce a shock in the country.

“I wrote the statement because I wanted to send a positive shock. We cannot say that we apply disassociation and at the same time see a group interfering in Yemen, or be dragged to relations with the Syrian regime, which I will not do,” Hariri said.

The outgoing prime minister said: “I resigned now and I will go back to Lebanon soon and will carry out the constitutional steps needed to formalize my resignation.”

He also explained that he is currently reviewing his security to make a safety net before his return to Lebanon.

However, Hariri added that he might withdraw the resignation if Lebanon fully commits to the disassociation policy and if interference in regional affairs stops, in a sign to Hezbollah’s current meddling in several regional conflicts.

He described his relations with Saudi Arabia as excellent, and that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud considers him like a son and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman respects him.

“Between 300 to 400 thousand Lebanese are living and working in the Gulf and others are living in Europe. If we place ourselves in axes, what will happen to these Lebanese? I am responsible of them as a Prime Minister,” he said.

Separately, the Arab League decided to hold an urgent meeting at the level of foreign ministers next Sunday to discuss “means of confronting the Iranian interference in Arab states.”

An Arab diplomatic source said that Saudi Arabia had presented on Sunday an official request asking the Arab League to convene an extraordinary meeting of its Foreign Ministers to discuss the violations committed by Iran in the Arab region.

The source said that the meeting would discuss the Houthi ballistic missile intercepted by Saudi Arabia’s air defenses and brought down near Riyadh airport without causing any casualties more than a week ago.

According to the same source, the Saudi request was welcomed by Bahrain, the UAE and Kuwait.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.