Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanon's prime minister from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, will arrive in France "in the coming days" with his family, a source inside the French presidential palace said on Wednesday.
The Elysee Palace said President Emmanuel Macron had invited Hariri to France after speaking with Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
Macron stressed that his invitation to come to France was not an offer of political exile.
"No, not at all," Macron told reporters in Bonn when asked if he was handing Hariri exile. "I hope that Lebanon will be stable, and that political choices should be in accordance with institutional rule."
"We need a strong Lebanon with her territorial integrity respected. We need leaders who are free to make their own choices and speak freely."