REPORT: PM Hariri submits his resignation

3^min

Prime Minister Saad Hariri submitted on Saturday his resignation from the premiership, saying that he fears for his life and criticizing Hezbollah and Iran.

Hariri said that the atmosphere in the country resembles the atmosphere that prevailed before the assassination of his father, Rafic Hariri.

Hariri’s comments were made in a in a televised broadcast whereby he expressed fears of being assassinated.

Rafic Hariri was killed in a 2005 Beirut bomb attack that pushed his son Saad into politics and set off years of turmoil.

Hariri's resignation thrusts Lebanon back into the frontline of Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry and seems likely to exacerbate sectarian tensions between Lebanese Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

“We refuse Hezbollah’s use of its weapons against the Lebanese and Syrian people, and Iran’s hands extended to the region will be cut off,” Hariri noted.

“We will not accept that Lebanon would be a starting point for threatening the security of the region,” he added.

It also shatters a coalition government formed last year after years of political deadlock, and which was seen as representing a victory for Shi'ite Hezbollah and Iran.

Hariri, who is closely allied with Saudi Arabia, alleged in a televised broadcast that Hezbollah was "directing weapons" at Yemenis, Syrians and Lebanese and said the Arab world would "cut off the hands that wickedly extend to it".

Hariri's coalition, which took office last year, grouped nearly all of Lebanon's main parties, including Hezbollah. It took office in a political deal that made Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, president.

It was not immediately clear who might succeed Hariri, Lebanon's most influential Sunni politician.

The post of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon's sectarian power sharing system. The constitution requires Aoun to nominate the candidate with the greatest support among MPs.

In a statement read from an undisclosed location, Hariri said Hezbollah and Iran had brought Lebanon into the "eye of a storm" of international sanctions. He said Iran was sowing strife, destruction and ruin wherever it went and accused it of a "deep hatred for the Arab nation".

Aoun's office said Hariri had called him from "outside Lebanon" to inform him of his resignation.

Hariri flew to Saudi Arabia on Friday after a meeting in Beirut with Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Afterwards, Velayati described Hariri's coalition as "a victory" and "great success".

LBCI/REUTERS

To watch the full report, please click on the above.