Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed meets PM Hariri

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, met with former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The crown prince tweeted that the two discussed “brotherly relations” and the recent developments in Lebanon.

It comes after Mr Hariri, who announced his resignation as premier on Saturday from Riyadh, met with King Salman in the Saudi capital on Monday. He left Saudi Arabia on Tuesday morning to travel to the UAE, his office said, without providing further details of his trip.

“I was honoured to visit Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz in his office in Al Yamama Palace,” Mr Hariri tweeted following the meeting.

It remains unclear whether Mr Hariri will return to Beirut any time in the near future, though one Lebanese minister said on Monday that he expected him to return “within days”.

Lebanese president Michel Aoun has said he is waiting for Mr Hariri to return before formally accepting his resignation.

Read full article by David Enders on The National, November 7, 2017.