French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saad Hariri for talks
Saturday, an AFP reporter said, hours after the Lebanese premier arrived
from Saudi Arabia in the midst of a political crisis.
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| French
President Emmanuel Macron (right) greets Lebanese Prime Minister Saad
Hariri at the Elysee Palace in paris, on November 18, 2017 (AFP) French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saad Hariri for talks Saturday, an AFP reporter said, hours after the Lebanese premier arrived from Saudi Arabia in the midst of a political crisis.
Hariri, who made a
shock resignation announcement on November 4 and has since fended off
claims he was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will, was also due
to have lunch with Macron.
The Lebanese
leader's wife and elder son were to join them for the meal after the
talks, but the couple's two younger children remain in Riyadh "for their
school exams", a source close to Hariri said.
"Hariri does not want to mix his children up in this affair," the source said.
Macron
has been attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis
that has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.
Lebanese
President Michel Aoun has refused to accept Hariri's resignation while
he remains abroad, and Macron said ahead of the talks that he would be
welcomed "with the honours due to a prime minister".
Aoun
said on Saturday that he had spoken by telephone to the premier after
his arrival in Paris, and that Hariri said he would be back in Lebanon
for Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.
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