Saudi envoy invites Lebanon's Hariri to kingdom: PM office

BEIRUT - 26 February 2018: Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has received an invitation from a Saudi envoy to visit the kingdom and will go as soon as possible, his press office said on Monday.

"Saudi Arabia's main goal is for Lebanon to be its own master, and it is keen on Lebanon's full independence," Hariri said after meeting Saudi envoy Nizar al-Aloula in Beirut.

Hariri's shock resignation in November, in a broadcast from Riyadh, had thrust Lebanon to the forefront of regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The premier returned to Beirut weeks later and rescinded his resignation.