Outgoing Lebanese PM meets Saudi king in Riyadh

Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister met the Saudi King on Monday, two days after unexpectedly resigning during his visit to the kingdom, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Saad Hariri announced he was stepping down on Saturday in a televised speech while visiting Saudi Arabia, and lashed out at Iran and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.

The SPA said Hariri and King Salman bin Abdulaziz's meeting addressed the situation in Lebanon, without giving further details.

Saudi Interior Minister Abdulaziz bin Saud, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan also attended the meeting, which took place at the al-Yamama palace in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Following the meeting, al-Sabhan said in a Twitter post, "Lebanon will never be the same after the resignation".

"We will never accept it to be a platform for launching terrorism to our countries. It is up to its leaders to allow for a state of terrorism or peace," he added.

Earlier in the day, Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for cooperation among all Lebanese forces following Hariri's resignation, in order to reinforce stability.

--IANS

ahm/bg