Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch will visit Saudi Arabia next week and has received "a positive response" from Saudi officials over the possibility of meeting with Saad Hariri, who resigned as prime minister, his spokesman said.
The head of the Maronite Catholic church, Patriarch Beshara Rai, will take a message to the kingdom that "Lebanon cannot handle conflict," spokesman Walid Ghayyad said. A meeting between Rai and Hariri will take place in principle, he said.
Lebanon believes Riyadh is holding Hariri, who resigned as prime minister in a surprise weekend broadcast from the kingdom, two top Lebanese government officials said on Thursday.