Saudi king meets outgoing Lebanese prime minister Hariri

A Saudi-owned television station says King Salman has met with Lebanon’s outgoing prime minister, who abruptly resigned during his trip to the kingdom.

Al-Arabiya TV says the king received Saad Hariri this afternoon.

Hariri’s resignation in a televised statement from Saudi Arabia on Saturday has stunned Lebanon and plunged tiny nation into uncertainty. In his resignation, Hariri accused Shiite power Iran of meddling in Arab affairs and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant Hezbollah group of holding Lebanon hostage.

The resignation threw Lebanon’s fragile government into disarray. President Michel Aoun said he wouldn’t consider the resignation until it’s delivered to him in person.

It’s uncertain when Hariri will return to Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah speculated on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had forced Hariri to resign amid the deepening Saudi-Iran rivalry.

— AP