Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano on Wednesday praised Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri's retraction of his resignation, tendered last month during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the foreign ministry stated.
"I welcome the decision of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri to withdraw his resignation as well as the ministerial declaration with which Lebanese political forces commit to distance the country from regional tensions," Alfano said.
"At the meeting in Paris that I will attend on Friday, Italy will renew its support for the stability and sovereignty of Lebanon and will urge the effective implementation of a policy of dissociation from regional crises, within a framework of positive relations with Arab countries," he added.
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, announced he was stepping down as premier in a broadcast speech on 4 November during a visit to Saudi Arabia, triggering a political crisis in Lebanon. The country's Maronite Christian president Michel Aoun refused to accept Hariri's resignation and Hariri returned home nearly three weeks later on 22 November and postponed his departure from office.
In his resignation speech, Hariri, who has Saudi ties, accused Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran of meddling in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region and accused it and its allies of plotting to have him assassinated.
