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Lebanese PM al-Hariri resigns, citing assassination plot against him

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri. RAWAN/REX/Shutterstock (6954417b)

Lebanon‘s prime minister Saad al-Hariri resigned on Saturday, saying he believed there was an assassination plot against him and accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.

His resignation brought down the coalition government and plunged Lebanon into a new political crisis, returning it to the front line of a regional competition between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran that has also buffeted Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain.

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Hariri, who is closely allied with Saudi Arabia, alleged in a broadcast from an undisclosed location that Hezbollah was “directing weapons” at Yemenis, Syrians and Lebanese.

In comments directed at Iran, he said the Arab world would “cut off the hands that wickedly extend to it”.

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It was not immediately clear who might succeed Hariri, Lebanon‘s most influential Sunni politician.

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