Reuters reports that Lebanon's President Ayoun has announced that because Saad al-Hariri has not returned to Lebanon, they consider him to be held against his will, as earlier reported.
Estimates of the situation suggest that Hariri was recently threatened by Iran to choose between supporting the strategy of the US administration against Hezbollah and facing chaos in Lebanon during which Hariri himself would meet the fate of his father, assassinated on February 14th 2005.
Al-Hariri announced that he was resigning from his post in a televised speech from Saudi Arabia last Saturday.
Lebanon's control by Iran via Hezbollah was the reason given for stepping down. Hezbollah, Al-Hariri said, “has come to control the seams of the state and has the final and decisive say in the affairs of Lebanon and the Lebanese.”
Lebanese analysts estimate that Saudi Arabia and the United States sought to create an environment of shock and sustained pressure so as to begin the process of ridding Lebanon of Iranian control and corruption effected through its regional proxy, Hezbollah. Sources quoted Hariri as saying that he wished to create a situation that would awaken the Lebanese people to the gravity of their situation.
