Islam Times - Saudi Intelligence Director Asked Lebanese Forces Chief Not to Nominate Hariri

Islam Times - The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper posted an article in which it explained the conditions of the caretaker premier Saad Hariri decision to withdraw his name as a candidate for PM.

The writer, Nicolas Nasif, reported that the Saudi intelligence director Khaled Humaidan called the Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and asked him not to nominate Hariri during the parliamentary consultations held on Monday.

The writer added that the Saudi message reached Hariri who recognized that he lost the regional support for him, pointing out that this pushed him to withdraw from the political contest in order to avoid confronting KSA’s decision.

Nasif also reported that Hariri did not react negatively with the name of Hassan Diab proposed by the political forces, but that he decided not to participate in the new government.

Geagea later denied the veracity of the information mentioned in the Nasif’s report, adding that his parliamentary bloc held a six-hour meeting to take the decision.