Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano has deplored any "intimidation" or "limitation" on the personal freedom of Lebanon's premier Saad Hariri, who resigned during a visit to Saudi Arabia on 4 November and who Lebanon's government believes the Saudis are detaining.
''I condemn any intimidation of premier Hariri and consider unacceptable any limitation on his personal freedom," Alfano said at the foreign ministry in Rome after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil.
Referring to his "fruitful" meeting with Bassil, Alfano underlined "how Lebanon and its stability are strategic elements for the entire region and the world."
"We must work to keep Lebanon stable," he said.
Italy is following the situation in Lebanon "with great attention and sincere friendship," Alfano stated, noting that it has invested heavily in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in the Middle East country.
Alfano urged all sides to respect the independence and stability of Lebanon's institutions and its democracy.
Lebanon's president Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian, said on Wednesday that "nothing justified" Hariri's 12-day absence from Lebanon and called it "a breach of his human rights" and "act of aggression".
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim with close ties to Saudi Arabia, became prime minister for the second time in late 2016 in a political compromise deal that also saw Aoun elected president.
He has vowed he will return to Lebanon despite saying in his broadcast resignation he sensed there was an assassination plot against him.
