Hariri Meets Saudi King but His Talks with Assad on Monday Unconfirmed
Premier Saad Hariri holds talks with Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on Saturday during a visit to Riyadh which is part of a series of trips that the Mustaqbal movement leader will make to other countries, including Syria.
Hariri”s circles refused to give the exact date of the PM”s talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. An Nahar daily also cast doubt about a possible trip by Hariri to the Syrian capital on Monday. However, unofficial Arab sources in Damascus told As Safir newspaper that Hariri could visit Damascus on Monday for five hours only.
Al-Akhbar, in its turn, confirmed that the Lebanese premier would travel to Syria on Monday.
The daily ruled out Hariri”s visit would be influenced by Syrian requests for 25 Lebanese figures, including the police chief and top prosecutor, to appear for questioning.
The prime minister "will fully ignore the requests … and will leave the mission of defusing the bomb to the Saudis," al-Akhbar quoted a source close to Hariri as saying.
As for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Hariri”s circles told al-Liwaa that there is a clear Security Council resolution on the court and the prime minister will not bring up the issue with Syrian officials.