France says Lebanon’s Hariri will arrive ‘in coming days’

Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad Hariri will come to France “in the coming days,” a source at the French presidency tells AFP on Wednesday.

The development came after the office of President Emmanuel Macron said he had “invited” Hariri and his family to France.

The statement says the invitation came after Macron spoke by telephone with both the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Hariri, who announced his resignation in a surprise statement from the kingdom on November 4.

Speculation has swirled around Hariri’s prolonged stay in Saudi Arabia since the announcement.

There were rumors that Hariri, who is a Saudi citizen and grew up in the kingdom, had been detained along with dozens of Saudis in what Riyadh says is an anti-corruption campaign.

— AFP