• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Monday, March 1, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World Middle East

World Leaders to ‘Re-Legitimize’ Lebanon’s Hariri at Paris Talks

Staff Writer with AFP by Staff Writer with AFP
12/08/17
in Middle East, World
A poster of resigned prime minister Saad Hariri in Lebanon

A poster of resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri with Arabic that read, "We are all with you," hangs on a street in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. Cardinal Bechara el-Rai, who heads the Maronite sect, Lebanon's biggest Christian community and the Middle East's largest Catholic church, is to head to Saudi Arabia and is expected to meet with Hariri, in a visit he had planned before Hariri announced his resignation. Photo: Hassan Ammar, AP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday warned regional powers against meddling in Lebanon at a international meeting aimed at fending off pressure on the fragile country from rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attended the talks in Paris with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose shock resignation last month – which he has since rescinded – sparked fears of a new crisis in the Middle East.

Opening the meeting, Mr. Macron said it was “essential that all of the parties in Lebanon and regional actors respect the cardinal principle of non-interference” in the affairs of other countries.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with Germany, Italy and Egypt, sent representatives to the talks, which were to discuss economic and humanitarian support for the former French territory.

They took place against a backdrop of rising tensions in the Middle East linked to U.S. President Donald Trump‘s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, an announcement that was condemned again by Mr. Macron and Mr. Hariri.

“It complicates the peace process even more (between Israel and the Palestinians) and creates a new challenge to regional security,” Mr. Hariri said in opening remarks at the meeting.

Mr. Macron added: “None of the region’s problems will be resolved by unilateral decisions or the strongest imposing their will.”

Saudi Arabia was suspected of pressuring Mr. Hariri, a longtime ally, to resign on November 4 as part of its attempts to counter growing Iranian influence in the region.

In an unusual televised resignation statement made from Riyadh, Mr. Hariri lambasted Tehran and its Lebanese ally, the powerful armed movement Hezbollah, for destabilising his country.

A Lebanese source close to Mr. Hariri told AFP that the premier traveled to Riyadh believing he was going to discuss economic projects but instead “found himself faced with a list of economic sanctions brandished by the Saudis against Lebanon.”

Saudi Arabia and other Arab states accuse Iran of using armed proxies such as Hezbollah to expand its influence the region, from Lebanon to Yemen to Syria and Iraq.

Mr. Hariri remained in Riyadh for two weeks after his resignation speech, fuelling speculation that he was being held hostage.

Mr. Macron then intervened, inviting him to Paris for talks, after which Mr. Hariri returned home to a hero’s welcome.

“Lebanon’s stability is not only crucial for its inhabitants but for the entire region,” Mr. Macron said Friday, demanding that the sovereignty of the small multifaith country, long a proxy battleground between its bigger neighbours, be respected.

Mr. Hariri said the fragile stability enjoyed by his country, which neighbors Syria, “appeared like a small miracle” in a region plagued by conflict.

“The desire of all in Lebanon is to save our democracy,” he said.

Hasni Abidi of the Geneva-based CERMAM research centre, which specialises in Arab affairs, described the gathering as “a sort of consecration, a re-legitimisation for Mr. Hariri”.

“The international community is validating a return to normal for Hariri,” he told AFP.

Riyadh’s power play paradoxically led divided Lebanese factions to come together in order to avoid a political breakdown.

After consultations with various parties, including Hezbollah, Mr. Hariri announced Tuesday that he was withdrawing his resignation.

His cabinet members issued a joint statement to reaffirm their commitment to “dissociation” from regional conflicts, apparently putting an end to the month-long Hariri saga.

After Friday’s talks Hariri will give a joint press briefing with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Amina Mohammed, the U.N. deputy secretary general.

The International Support Group for Lebanon, which will meet in Paris on Friday, was launched in September 2013 partly in response to the huge influx of refugees from the conflict in neighboring Syria.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer with AFP

Staff Writer with AFP

Related Posts

A single falcon can fetch up to tens of thousands of dollars on the black market.
World

Poachers’ Paradise: Gulf Hunts Fuel Pakistan Falcon Trafficking

by Staff Writer
January 4, 2021
Saudi human rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul.
Middle East

Saudi Activist’s Suspended Sentence Paves Way for Early Release

by Staff Writer
December 28, 2020
Peacekeeping soldiers in the Central African Republic.
World

UN Says Seized C.African Town Under Peacekeepers’ Control

by Staff Writer
December 23, 2020
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
World

Britain Holds Crisis Meeting Over Virus Travel Ban

by Staff Writer
December 21, 2020
Saudi human rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul.
Middle East

Jailed Saudi Activist in Terrorism Court on ‘Spurious’ Charges: UN Experts

by Staff Writer
December 10, 2020
Jailed Saudi activists
World

Families of Jailed Saudis Appeal to World Ahead of G20

by Staff Writer
November 21, 2020
Next Post
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Moscow

Putin to Visit Turkey Next Week for Jerusalem, Syria Talks

Cholera cases in Yemen

EU Pledges €25 Million for Yemen as Humanitarian Crisis Worsens

Recommended

Hatice Cengiz delivers a speech addressing the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2019.

Khashoggi Fiancée Demands Punishment for Saudi Prince

March 1, 2021
People lay flowers in central Moscow at the site where late opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was fatally shot, February 27, 2021.

Russians Mark Sixth Anniversary of Kremlin Critic’s Murder

February 27, 2021
What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

March 1, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Ethiopian refugees who fled the conflict in Tigray gather to receive aid at the Tenedba camp.

Eritrean Troops Killed ‘Hundreds’ in Ethiopia Massacre: Amnesty

February 26, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine

Syria Health Workers to Receive Covid Vaccine From Next Week

February 25, 2021

Opinion

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

March 1, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Stolpersteine in Greifswald, Germany.

I Can’t Mark Where My Grandfather Is Buried, but I Want to Mark Where He Lived

February 26, 2021
Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley

Trump’s Acquittal and Republican Senators: Not Setting the Bar Low Enough

February 22, 2021
Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

February 19, 2021
Refugee child holding up a sign reading 'we are human like you'

US Asylum Laws Must Catch up With the Reality of Today’s Refugees

February 18, 2021
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post