Hariri touched down at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport after stopping over in Cairo where he held talks with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Lebanon’s Naharnet news reports. The politician was met by security forces on arrival.

Prior to his engagement in Egypt, Hariri spent the weekend in Paris, holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron who is reportedly trying to mediate in Lebanon’s crisis. Before Hariri travelled to Beirut, el-Sisi spoke on the phone with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, and the two leaders stressed the importance of preserving Lebanon’s national unity.

Hariri abruptly announced his resignation in a televised statement from Riyadh on November 4, blaming Iran for having a destabilizing influence in Lebanon and the Middle East and saying that his life was in danger from political opponent, Hezbollah. This led some to speculate the resignation statement had been made under duress while the PM was in Saudi Arabia, a claim repeated by Aoun. Hariri has denied these claims.

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