Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri steps down

By AP 15 July 2021, 4:49 pm

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Lebanese former prime minister-Saad Hariri speaks to journalists after his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, March 22, 2021. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri says he is stepping down, nine months after he was named to the post by the parliament, citing “key differences” with the country’s president amid ongoing political deadlock.

The development is likely to plunge the country further into chaos and uncertainty. Lebanon is going through an unprecedented economic crisis, described by the World Bank as one of the worst in the world in 150 years.

“It is clear that we will not be able to agree with the president,” Hariri says, after a 20-minute meeting with President Michel Aoun, who is backed by the terror group Hezbollah.