A worker stands in front of a poster of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri with Arabic words that read, "We are all Saad,", in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Lebanon's president has called... (Associated Press) 
 
 A worker stands in front of a poster of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri with Arabic words that read, "We are all Saad,", in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Lebanon's president has called on Saudi Arabia to clarify the reasons why the country's prime minister has not returned home since... (Associated Press) 
 
 BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's president called on Saudi Arabia Saturday to clarify the reasons why the country's prime minister has not returned home since his resignation last week, announced from the kingdom, as the United States and France expressed their support for Lebanon's sovereignty and stability amid heightening tensions between Beirut and Saudi Arabia. 
 
 A political crisis has gripped Lebanon and shattered the relative peace maintained by its coalition government since Prime Minister Saad Hariri's stunning announcement Nov. 4 from the Saudi capital that he was resigning. 
 
 Lebanese officials have insisted on the return home of Hariri from Saudi Arabia amid rumors he is being held against his will. Saudi officials have said that their measures against Lebanon are in response to the militant Hezbollah's group support of anti-Saudi rebels in Yemen known as Houthis. 
 
 Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on Saudi Arabia to clarify why Hariri hasn't returned home since announcing his resignation saying that "the obscurity regarding Hariri's conditions makes anything that he says or does not reflect truth." It was an indication that Aoun does not recognize Hariri's resignation. 
 
 In statements released by his office, Aoun called on Saudi Arabia "that is linked to us through deep brotherly and friendly relations to clarify the reasons that are preventing" Hariri from returning to Lebanon. 
 
 White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Washington calls upon "all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes." 
 
 Saudi Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan warned earlier this month that his government would deal with Lebanon as a hostile state as long as Hezbollah was in the Lebanese government. The Lebanese unity government that Hariri formed a year ago includes Hezbollah members — the result of a tacit Saudi-Iranian agreement to sideline Lebanon from the other proxy wars in the region. 
 
 Al-Sabhan blasted in a tweet late Saturday as laughable those expressing support and "love" for Hariri despite their previous opposition to him. He added that those who "sold out" Lebanon would soon be exposed. 
 
 "In this sensitive time, the United States also rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanon's stability, undermine Lebanese government institutions, or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region," Sanders said. She was apparently referring to Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia. 
 
 Sanders described Hariri as "a trusted partner of the United States in strengthening Lebanese institutions, fighting terrorism, and protecting refugees." Sanders said the Lebanese army and security forces are the only legitimate forces in Lebanon. 
 
 Also Saturday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that French President Emmanuel Macron called Aoun expressing France's commitment to Lebanon's "unity, sovereignty and independence and to help it in preserving political and security stability." 
 
 Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Saudi Arabia is aiming to create unrest in Lebanon after doing so in the Gulf region and Yemen. Bahram Qasemi said in comments carried by state news agency IRNA that the kingdom is trying to destabilize the region. 
 
 Aoun said that a Marathon planned in Beirut on Sunday in which tens of thousands will participate should be "a national sports demonstration for solidarity with prime minister Hariri and his return to his country." 
 
 Last year Hariri took part in the marathon, wearing the number 3. ||||| BEIRUT, Lebanon — When the Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri made a sudden trip abroad last week, it was taken at first to be a routine visit with his political patron, Saudi Arabia. But the next day, he unexpectedly announced his resignation by video from Riyadh, the Saudi capital. 
 
 He has yet to return to Lebanon. 
 
 On Friday, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, part of his governing coalition at home, charged that the Saudis were holding him against his will, while the Saudis have said they were protecting him from an unspecified assassination plot. 
 
 The Hariri case has become just one in a profusion of bewildering events — from Saudi Arabia’s arrest of princes and wealthy businessmen last weekend to ordering its citizens out of Lebanon on Thursday — that are escalating tensions in the Middle East and fueling anxiety about whether the region is on the verge of military conflict. 
 
 The American secretary of state Rex W. Tillerson warned Friday “against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country,” a message apparently aimed at Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia and Iran. ||||| BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s president called on Saudi Arabia on Saturday to clarify why Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri could not return home, a week after he stunned his country by resigning while in the kingdom. 
 
 A senior Lebanese official said President Michel Aoun had told foreign ambassadors Hariri had been “kidnapped” and should have immunity. 
 
 Hariri’s shock resignation has thrust Lebanon back into the frontline of a power struggle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran - a rivalry that has wrought upheaval in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain. 
 
 “Lebanon does not accept its prime minister being in a situation at odds with international treaties,” Aoun said in a statement. He said any comment or move by Hariri “does not reflect reality” due to the questions over his status following his resignation in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia. 
 
 Lebanese authorities believe Riyadh is detaining Hariri who flew to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 3, two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source have said. 
 
 French President Emmanuel Macron echoed similar concerns, saying in a call with Aoun on Saturday that “Lebanese political leaders should enjoy freedom of movement”. 
 
 Macron, who made an unscheduled visit to Riyadh earlier this week, will receive the Lebanese foreign minister in Paris on Tuesday, the Elysee statement said. 
 
 Riyadh says Hariri is free and decided to resign because Iran’s Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, was calling the shots in his coalition government. 
 
 Hariri has made no public remarks since quitting last week, when he said he feared assassination and accused Iran along with Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. 
 
 Hariri, whose family made its fortune in the Saudi construction industry, has also given no sign of when he might return to Beirut. 
 
 The Lebanese premier took part in a ceremony in Riyadh on Saturday welcoming Saudi King Salman from Medina, his media office said. Hariri met with the Turkish and British ambassadors at his Riyadh home in the afternoon, it said. 
 
 Sources close to Hariri say Saudi Arabia has concluded that the prime minister - a long-time Saudi ally - had to go because he was unwilling to confront Hezbollah. 
 
 His phone was confiscated after he arrived in Riyadh, and the next day he was forced to resign on a Saudi TV channel, senior sources close to Hariri and top Lebanese political and security officials said. 
 
 FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT 
 
 Aoun wants Saudi Arabia, “with which we have brotherly ties and deeply rooted friendship, to clarify the reasons preventing Prime Minister Hariri’s return,” his office said. 
 
 France and other Western countries have looked on with alarm at the rising tensions in the region. 
 
 “We would like Saad al-Hariri to have all his freedom of movement and be fully able to play the essential role that is his in Lebanon,” a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday. 
 
 Hariri’s resignation unraveled a political deal among Lebanon’s rival factions that made him prime minister and Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, president last year. The coalition government included Shi’ite Hezbollah, a heavily armed military and political organization. 
 
 Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that Saudi had declared war on Lebanon and his group, accusing Riyadh of forcing Hariri to resign to destabilize Lebanon. 
 
 The comments mirrored an accusation by Riyadh earlier this week that Lebanon and Hezbollah had declared war on the Gulf Arab kingdom. 
 
 Hariri’s political party denounced on Saturday Iranian intervention in Arab countries and attacks against Saudi Arabia. 
 
 The Future Movement party said it stands by the premier and was “waiting impatiently for his return to Lebanon to handle his national responsibilities in leading this stage.” 
 
 In a statement, the United States called Hariri “a trusted partner” and referred to him as prime minister. 
 
 FILE PHOTO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun is seen at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo 
 
 The White House “rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanon’s stability ... or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region,” it said. 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had told reporters on Friday there was no indication Hariri was being held against his will but that the United States was monitoring the situation. 
 
 The resignation of Hariri comes amid an anti-corruption purge in Riyadh in which dozens of senior princes and businessmen have been rounded up.
– In the week since he suddenly and unexpectedly resigned as Lebanon's prime minister during a trip to Saudi Arabia, Saad Hariri has yet to return to his country—or make any sort of public statement at all, Reuters reports. According to the New York Times, on Friday Hezbollah, which is part of Hariri's governing coalition, claimed Saudi Arabia kidnapped Hariri then asked Israel to launch an attack on Lebanon. Analysts say that's an entirely possible series of events, and one that Lebanese authorities echoed on Saturday, the AP reports. Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday asked Saudi Arabia to explain Hariri's absence from Lebanon. "The obscurity regarding Hariri's conditions makes anything that he says or does not reflect truth," Aoun said. Saudi Arabia has claimed to be protecting Hariri from an assassination attempt. The Times calls the situation "one in a profusion of bewildering events ... that are escalating tensions in the Middle East." Those events include Saudi Arabia arresting princes and businessmen, ordering its citizens out of Lebanon, having an undisclosed meeting with Jared Kushner, and claiming a missile that approached its capital last Saturday was orchestrated by Hezbollah and Iran. On Friday, Rex Tillerson appeared to send a warning to Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia, and Iran about using Lebanon "as a venue for proxy conflicts." And on Saturday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked "all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes." Analysts and diplomats fear all of this is leading to a military conflict in the region.