There is nothing to justify Premier Saad Hariri's non-return after 12 days, and therefore we consider him to be detained and held captive, what breaches the Vienna Convention and the Human Rights Charter," President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday.

"This detention is an aggression against Lebanon, especially that the prime Minister enjoys diplomatic immunity, as per the Vienna Convention," he said, during his meeting at the Baabda Palace with a media delegation headed by the President of the National Council of Audio-visual, Abdel Hadi Mahfouz, within the framework of the consultations made with the various components in the country.

"The continued detention of Prime Minister Hariri in Saudi Arabia is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, because the Prime Minister is detained for no reason, and he must return honorably," Aoun said, revealing that "Lebanon has taken the necessary measures to secure the return of Prime Minister Hariri," calling on the media to "contribute to strengthening the sense of national unity that has emerged during the past few days."

"We do not consider what happened as a government resignation, but rather an attack on Lebanon, its independence, its dignity and the relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia," he pointed out, noting that Arab countries have "intervened for the return of PM Hariri, but there has been no responsiveness thereon. So, we resorted to international references, and I met with ambassadors of the International Support Group for Lebanon, including Italy, which currently presides over the Security Council. All of these countries have demanded the return of Premier Hariri and, yet, no progress has been made."

The President, however, stressed that Hariri "will return to Lebanon, to preserve our dignity and national symbols."
"We will not tolerate such a matter. We will not let him be a hostage, especially since we do not know the reasons for his detention," he said.

"We wish Saudi Arabia had officially explained to us the causes of its objection, or had sent a delegate to discuss this issue with us, but that did not happen. (...) The way the resignation happened is an absolute first-time. (...) We would not accept the resignation as long as Prime Minister Hariri is detained or outside Lebanon. He has a duty to shoulder towards his country, and we all know that Prime Minister Hariri is a person who assumed his national responsibilities and does not commit such mistakes."

Addressing his guests, the President said "do not have fear, neither on the economy nor on the financial or the security situation. The country is safe, the financial market is functioning as it should be, and national unity is the safety valve."

"It is not possible to decide on a resignation that has been submitted from abroad. Let him return to Lebanon to either submit his resignation, or go back on it, or maybe discuss its reasons and the best means for dealing with it," he said.

"Lebanon has received an invitation to participate in the Arab foreign ministers' meeting and discuss a Saudi complaint against Iran," he said in response to a question. "If the issue of the resignation of PM Hariri and the subsequent events arises, we will tackle it with arguments."

Aoun told his guests that when Hariri contacted him on November 4, he told him he was tired and wanted to resign.
"When asked about his return, he said in a couple of days. Since then, however, it became impossible to contact him via any means of communication. In my capacity as President, I cannot accept such a resignation. I did what I believe is the right thing to do; that is, to wait until the circumstances which have led him to resign are revealed."

"The situation of Hariri's family is similar to his. (...) We are aware that they are also being detained and searched when entering and exiting the house," Aoun revealed.

He reiterated that "no acceptable excuse prevents Prime Minister Hariri from returning to Lebanon. (...) It is possible to discuss all the issues that might have led him to resign, except in matters that affect our independence and security."

"We can no longer wait and lose time. State affairs cannot be put on hold," Aoun concluded

Source: NNA