Saudi Arabia rejects Macron comment over Hariri 'detention'

Saudi Arabia yesterday rejected French President Emmanuel Macron's comment that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri had been held against his will in the kingdom in November.

Hariri announced on November 4 that he was stepping down in a televised address from Riyadh, only to rescind it the following month after Macron's intervention.

In an interview broadcast Friday by French broadcaster BFMTV, Macron described how he waded into the crisis after Hariri resigned, allegedly under pressure from the Saudi crown prince.

"Lebanon has since emerged from a serious crisis where, as I recall, a prime minister was held in Saudi Arabia for several weeks," Macron said.

Yesterday, a Saudi foreign ministry spokesman denied that Hariri was held against his will.

"What the French president said in an interview with channel BFMTV that the kingdom had held Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is incorrect," he was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency.