is it a government without hezbollah and at all same as the one day. are you going to be a caretaker prime minister discovered months poll let me tell you something. being . all my life work with positive attitude. i've only done this to create a positive shock and that's why when i go back to lebanon but i want to be positive for him and his interest and for the arabic interest as well. for the interest of lebanon lebanon's relationship with other countries. relationship with lebanon and the area. i mean. again and i just. wanted to know i should talk about the campaigns against the saudi there's. also the. interference of that a news. now of course i am the head of the. coming unstuck world blog and the premier league and now we have to take another short break. and then i'll ask you about your visit to the united arab emirates. this. preview. what i get. so we've been listening. we've been listening to an interview by the lebanese prime minister saad hariri in the saudi capital riyadh this following his shock resignation just about a week ago he's b

it is clear that saudi arabia and the saudi officials have declared war against lebanon and hezbollah however let me tell you this is a war against. the entire lebanon not hezbollah and i want to know and here i would like to address the lebanese the lebanese with absolute veracity and openness and passion. propose also stress. points. i made. the happenings around us. and the state of the car we have been enjoying shears until the said saturday last. month a state and institutions presidency prime ministership stability security financial economic instability. all these benefits of pressures today many of the regions peoples are biting they fold that grave and dire situations they are living we must realize the value and the preciousness of what we enjoy in lebanon and hold on fast to this end contrast so the arabia is calling on them to read when. this troll to demolish all that. site has war against hezbollah saudi arabia is calling on you to read when your own homes will you do that. it is saudi arabia for all the statements and measures made by them are they willing or i the they

and its allies in a major victory for the shia iran backed group add to that hezbollah's military wing has been racking up victories in syria building up its arsenal and steadily increasing its influence at home and that subset some including saudi arabia right let's introduce our guests now joining us on skype from beirut is joseph katich ian political commentator and senior fellow at the king faisal center for research and islamic studies from tehran we have most of our cautious i'm here is professor of journalism at the applied sciences university and from boston we have rami corey senior public policy fellow and adjunct professor of journalism at the american university of beirut thank you all very much indeed for joining us can i start with you joseph sayyid hariri said that conditions that have prompted him to quit are similar to those in two thousand and five just before his own father rafik hariri was assassinated what with tb referring to well he was been referring to the outside intervention obviously lebanon has always been the battleground for other people's wars in two tho

more now on the balance and lebanon hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah is speaking let's just listen to the nation we know the lebanese we know the words used. that harry the prime minister and these text is not. text this text is written but as this is their language and the prime minister just read the text this is clear it was a shock and a surprise in lebanon because in politics things cannot be done that way and that it was a big surprise from the president from from the cabinet and political powers and even leaders and ministers and the present of the future. front car and it's it causes cons in lebanon because a lot of. analytic things threats rumors that's why every political power in lebanon has to. they're understanding of these political think that's why here in his back we say the following we it's not. for them really to resign on a slate we see matters go in. in a way it's not a fantastic way but it's a way that we can accept in the government and the ministerial committee as things being discussed. there and sometimes through discussions you can find some difficulties and

hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah accuses saudi arabia of forcing the lebanese prime minister to resign. although i'm maryam namazie and london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up saudi crown prince consolidate his hold on power after eleven princes and four ministers are arrested in a corruption crackdown. has pushed him aunt and four other ministers turn themselves into belgian police. syrians displaced by the fighting and there is a hit by a car bomb reported to have killed at least one hundred people. and we begin in lebanon where the leader of the group hezbollah has responded to the surprise resignation of the prime minister saad hariri in riyadh on saturday. says the move was forced by saudi arabia and was a way to score points both internally and in the region even refused to respond directly to the statement from hariri and self saying that he suspected it didn't come directly from the lebanese prime minister. and the list if there is ignition was. the decision dictated on saddam and he was not at all willing to resign it is not his decision period and i think all the leb

well this is issue which has been raised by somebody about you know hezbollah's involvement in syria has been for the past seven years well i'm making an issue out of it right now this is a big question what sort of missed it how did he understand her and hezbollah mr nasr a lot mr. howard agreed when you had to go to form a unity government and everyone in use that each. side is a position are different also on i mean maybe it is some issues particularly on the syria crisis on the palestine crisis on negotiation and said that i and despite all of that they have agreed that they were set to go for the benefit of the company and to to keep the government going in lebanon so just if you wish and now why suddenly just. observed to mr how do you decide his one year of. the prime minister. to beings on i mean it's an eleven hour suddenly he flies with somebody that if you and declares his resignation he was if this is unbelievable it was a happy. issue which he had eight days ago was that it was he was threatened security wise in lebanon all of the security agencies in lebanon are happy a

the lebanese government will lose against hezbollah, because hezbollah is more powerful than the lebanese state itself. lebanon is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it will bea rock and a hard place, and it will be a new theatre, and you battle field between the two regional heavy rates, saudi arabia and iran. —— heavyweights. in two years nothing would change in lebanon, hezbollah is the most powerful player in lebanon. wall street journal is reporting that us special counsel robert mueller is investigating whetherformer white house national security adviser michael flynn was offered up to $15 million to forcibly remove a muslim cleric living in the us and deliver him to turkey. wall streetjournal says that flynn was allegedly offered the cash in exchange for fethullah gulen. the muslim cleric is viewed by turkey‘s president erdogan as a political enemy. turkey also blames gulen and his followers for the failed coup attempt last year. one of the reporters on the piece, james grimaldi explains the allegations. what the fbi is investigating is a meeting that occurred in manh

the foreign policy is hezbollah peace and war is that is in the hands of hezbollah even the economy is and that as well so maybe and i think i know all for the fact that he was getting very restless because he was promised that he would be able to come back to lebanon remember he was in saudi arabia he actually lived in saudi arabia his family lives and reality has results and riyadh i visited the family and so and the surge reason is now it's greatly being viewed that the messiah that had to riyadh luckily didn't. actually stop. given by the whole series it's greatly seen as meddling by hezbollah that has trained whole horses and hezbollah says that they have trained horses at sea being seen that here we are friendly with. the government i can be in a government that is seen to have people in it ministers and it's from hizbullah that actually helps to hide and country so that is the three main reasons i think that made sadly heavy. i decide that enough is enough and really i cannot take it anymore there are many speculations why he actually decided to say i resigned from people believ

thirteen sadly haiti is lebanon's most influential sunni politician and a fierce critic of iran and hezbollah but starting in two thousand and eleven he spent three years in self-imposed exile in saudi arabia and france after a hezbollah led the alliance left his government and he returned to lebanon in two thousand and fourteen two years later lebanon's parliament swore in a new cabinet dominated by hezbollah and its allies it was a huge political victory for the iran back group leader turned to the prime minister's office after hezbollah backed candidate michele our own became president let's go now to. who is in beirut for us so india's what has been the reaction there to this sudden decision by lebanon's prime minister to resign. has a lot of shock at a lot of disbelief we've course but reaching out to as many people as we can since this announcement was made as speaking to those who are close to the prime minister then telling al-jazeera they're just as surprised as anyone else they had no idea that this sort of resignation was coming they had no clue that the prime minister was going to

congress against hezbollah and against. general nader is talking about how. i have to jump in here we're going to go to a hard break and out for that break we'll continue our discussion on saudi arabia and some on iran state with our team. because there's a survival guide books they say they're all going to start saying that are. you sure it's. going to the. next. oh you know. repatriations look at the rest is seventy years. old the seventy guys record. in america a college degree requires a great deal. paying a decade's long debt. studying so hard it requires trust just. go through humiliation to enter an elite society. and paci dead sometimes quite literally. wants other true colors of universities in the u.s. . hey everybody i'm stephen bob taft hollywood guy suspects every proud american first of all i'm just george bush and r.v. to say this is my buddy max famous financial guru and we're just a little bit different i'm not a. good one i know no one knows up with all the drama happening in our country i'm shooting the road have fun every day americans. an

so hezbollah's very popular in fact it's the most popular party in lebanon it actually gives its seats in the cabinet and in parliament to its own allies it only keeps a minimal number of seats just to be sure that they're in the debate. and to compare saudi arabia to hezbollah is really extraordinary we just recently heard and i think all your viewers should watch the interview of the former prime minister of qatar when he spoke on i thirty t.v. not on here but on t.v. and he explained that at the very beginning of the situation in syria. he went to saudi arabia and they began plotting against the syrian government and of course we also have other documents like the defense intelligence agency document of two thousand and twelve and so on that shows that saudi arabia from the very beginning with the exporting terrorism to syria and the battery prime minister also acknowledged that the nostra front was being funded and that back then the national front was actually part of isis because isis back then was i.s.i. their slimy state of iraq they created the most from a struggle for syria a

court he kept on saying i'm i have to do this for to save the country and now he's telling hezbollah this is your way to save the country and i say this because the very fact that had he did resign he is seen as the top sunny politician the sunday street is very angry first of all that there was anger towards saudi arabia they felt that they robbed the saudi arabia robbed them from their leader because this is a community that has felt the marginalized for many years now they feel that iran has the grip on the country iran is dictating lebanon's policies so how do you throwing the ball in hezbollah's court telling it that it has to this arm it has to withdraw its troops disengage itself or from regional crisis in syria and iraq and elsewhere for there to be some sort of political agreement because lebanon is a parliamentary democracy but lebanon is also a consensual democracy all the different groups need to agree need to find some sort of consensus for there to be political stability and when there is no political stability there could be security incident so the prime minister is s

hezbollah should not have a free hand in. case of this is just syria so this is all about a little bit and this is all about hezbollah then let me go to show i mean in beirut i mean one can easily make the claim that saudi arabia is meddling in lebanon and in yemen ok i mean i i don't see where you find the moral equivalence right there ok i mean so in beirut here i mean what is in play here because. you seeing a country like saudi arabia claim it's making reforms considering it's a in the ta crissy religious to talk recy and it's reaching out to the west saying it's reforming and it wants to reorder the middle east i mean. that's destabilizing in itself because we don't know what the outcomes are at home and we certainly know what the outcomes are abroad ok go ahead in beirut. the saudis are in a very precarious situation i mean you know if you're going to take an. the stance in your neighborhood or at home one of the things you have to do is make sure you have cover so if you're going to move forward with an aggressive fore

how did he has said he would resign if the party doesn't stay out of regional conflicts hezbollah's parliamentary representative was among the political figures received by the president as part of his consultations to reach a consensus but has not discussed how to protect lebanon how to govern neutrality and resuming the work of the government. he refused to answer when asked it has but i will and its military activities outside lebanon. hezbollah has said it plans to withdraw its commanders advisors and trainers from iraq where the government there declares victory against i so apart from that statement it has not made any clear public commitment that it will and its involvement in syria for example it has also been accused of providing military support to the hutus in the yemen i charge it denies but hezbollah's role abroad is not the only divisive issue. of hezbollah's political opponents have long called on the group to surrender its weapons accusing it of using its arms for political gain. hezbollah says it is open to dialogue and ready to reach an understanding about its ally

congress against hezbollah and against. general motors talking about how. i have to jump in here we're going to go to a hard break and after that break we'll continue our discussion on saudi arabia and some on iran state with r.t. . yes will this is how the. welcome back to crossfire all things considered i'm peter about your money we're discussing saudi arabia. ok martin let me go back to you brought up the topic where i wanted to go with on this program that let's talk about the iran angle here i mean it seems that that's part of the the chessboard right here is the crown prince trying to make some kind of you know grand gesture or leave his footprint in history i mean i mean again you know looking at what's going on in the region failure in syria failure in yemen i mean maybe you should step back a little bit here disable destabilizing lebanon i mean now you're you know we have this rhetorical war which is always there with their two one level level or another but i mean it looks like you know he's priming up the region to get used to a conflict with the

movement part of hero is governing coalition says saudi arabia is holding him against his will hezbollah believes by forcing her very to resign saudi arabia has declared war on lebanon the u.s. has joined the u.n. in calling for stability and lebanon warning regional powers against using the country for proxy conflicts we have a lot to get to with our guests but first this report from in beirut. citizens of saudi arabia and its gulf allies visiting or living in lebanon are leaving it's not the first time gulf countries tell their citizens it is not safe to stay lebanon has long been entangled in the saudi iranian power struggle across the region but the latest warning heightened tensions after the resignation of lebanon's prime minister saad howdy but alongside the tensions there are growing signs of lebanese unity in what many see as saudi interference in their country the resignation was sudden raising concerns about the circumstances behind the decision there is also concern about how to ease freedom of movement he may have been seen since he made the announcement in riyadh but the pr

the political bit of hezbollah does he go into that discussion having. weakened his own political stock market value if you will because he goes he pops up in riyadh he says i'm resigning then he goes to paris now he's back home and he says well i may or may not be resigning watch this space that is not the behavior of a robust confident powerful politician. exactly and i was in riyadh last week and without is were very upset against jane thing at the he has been humiliated for the reason i gave you recently and and everybody even the french last week were saying that we hold that thought ari will resign in order to create a new equation to get a new a roadmap in lebanon so. he is going through a very risky path because a very good something in order for him to to be a more powerful prime minister which has been to be seen or if he didn't get anything he will have a lot of problems in lebanon and also with these regional allies particularly with the saudis. which thorough him as some saudi journalist last week told me sorry was a puppet in the hands of h

and lebanon today is not just a war against hezbollah and lebanon today it's a war against iran and the region because hezbollah is no longer eleven years party it's a regional militia that works under it on force and any war against hezbollah is a war in the region is a war against iran horse is a war against the two hundred thousand. person fighting under iran in the region and this is why everyone would have to consider this in it in terms of there's any any war with hezbollah because you would be up in ing this war to a regional war so i'm not sure anyone can do this alone who is going to do this i don't think any country alone can go for a war against hezbollah that is iran in that region unless everyone is on board including the united states and so far i don't feel that the united states is on board for a military action against hezbollah and syria or the region as a whole so this is why i don't think this is this is an option i see it more as a war if they cannot make war against against lebanon this is more plausible at this point with sanctions coming from the u.s. with mo

hezbollah secretary general has been a struggle was careful to avoid political escalation instead he accused saudi arabia of wanting to impose a new leadership in lebanon and start a war he called on the lebanese to avoid provocation and to stay away from the streets the political divide hasn't gone away but for now at least politicians are putting it aside there is a rare consensus for the need to unite at what many describe as dangerous times al-jazeera beirut. let's bring in our guest now and joining us here in doha beverly milton edwards visiting fellow at the brookings doha center in beirut kemal was named political analyst and founder of the center for the american strategic studies and also in beirut nor some are a freelance journalist covering the levant region well welcome to all of you first of all beverly let's start by asking the big question here what does saudi want in lebanon does it want to change of government because it wants a proxy war with iran what's the aim well i think that's the multibillion rionda question that you're asking there and i'm sure if any of us h

today, the hezbollah leader responded. he accused saudi arabia of deliberately detaining the lebanese prime minister, and forcing him to resign. this, he said, amounted to a declaration of war on lebanon. it is the recent defeat of so—called islamic state in syria and iraq which is behind this crisis. iran and hezbollah played a key role in these battles. now they wield significant influence in all these areas, much to the frustration of saudi arabia. supporters of hezbollah in lebanon feel they are very much the target of saudi arabia's anger. translation: the americans, saudis and israelis are all trying to prevent hezbollah from maximising its gains from wars in syria and iraq. hezbollah and its allies have achieved enormous success, but they now face huge pressure because of this. with tensions rising between saudi arabia, which is predominantly sunni muslim, and iran, which is shi'ite, the french president emmanuel macron akin to the region yesterday to try to mediate. to prevent what is currently a diplomatic crisi

congress against hezbollah and again. gentlemen. i have to jump in here we're going to go to a hard break and after that break we'll continue our discussion on saudi arabia and some on iran state. yes to all nations all the good. fight for many years so i know the guy. i mean sorry guys. football isn't only about what happens on the pitch pull the final school it's about the passion from the fans it's the age of the super manager kill the narrowness and spending two hundred twenty million on one player. book it's an experience like nothing else on to because i want to share what i think what i know about the beautiful guy a great so well more transfer. and thinks this minute. when we all make this manufactured sentenced to public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. with the family merry go round be the one percent. we can all middle of the room sick. i mean really really. seen years ago i traveled across the united states exploring america's deadly love affair with the gun bad guy tried to get to one of my family mem

again trying to fight iran by pressuring hezbollah but these have attempts have all failed in the past whenever has tried them so i think lebanon is for is in for a turbulent period politically but i don't think militarily if that's the case that of c.g. you touched on the fact on has blood its influence certainly in the south of the country how will it now do you think react to the way that. hariri has so. pulled scored to destabilize the statement from riyadh how does that sort of lead to perhaps act even more aggressively within the country if it can with the backing of iran i don't think it will try to act more aggressively within lebanon because hezbollah understands very well lebanon operates according to a sectarian balance among eighteen groups with actually three or four major ones and they will they have the primacy now inside lebanon and they know that they don't need to take more power they need they don't need to be more aggressive or predatory inside lebanon they just need to try to assure people that the country is stable and there's not going to be a war and there's not

and by extension against iran because hezbollah really is iran's army in lebanon we know that saudi arabia wants to curb iran's influence not just in lebanon but in syria in iraq and it seems it is choosing to start this confrontation here in lebanon a country which is so politically divided that it is really easy to stir unrest and this is what people are worried about and how significant then all the words of not . in his speech of yesterday which although accusing the saudi arabia of declaring war on lebanon all still his supporters hezbollah supporters to stay off the streets he was he was pushing for a certain amount of moderation at this very difficult time. yes has clearly of voiding any political escalation in the words of the secretary general himself. is our political a poem. but he is our prime minister we are going to leave our political differences aside and for the time being he needs to return to this country so really not just speaking to his own constituency but to the lebanese as a whole trying to tell them that it is dangerous times and not to be provoked accusing

iran and particularly hezbollah in the last few years have grown too strong and this is something that's been voiced in the past you know by the saudis and their allies in the region you know what do you do with hezbollah that has got how does that battle experience in syria. iran also is a growing economy now you know which which is a relatively recent thing so so they you've got this problem not only of geopolitics but also the economics in the region and that's really what's the the it has the edge of this is the saudis that they've lost a lot geo politically but also their working in in times where they don't have the clout that they used to have when when all prices were so much higher so you this this this. is great to get you back and unfortunately we could we came and said we've run out of times i left to wrap things up there we got some great answers from you much appreciated martin jack. and i will indeed have to wrap it up see the top of the hour of a. prescribed medication is widespread on the u.s. market and a frequent cause of death at that point in my life i just felt like

hezbollah leader has. accused saudi arabia of declaring war on lebanonon in of inciting other countries to do its bidding. a lot of bail picking up in those who with. i love the is the most dangerous and would surely does not scare us ththe most israel t the strike leleban. i'mm not talking about analysis. brothers and sisters and all lebanese listening i'm talking about packets. and that have the find my helloo matt by houthi. thouh he later said war with israel was unlikely he emphasize the hezbollah is carefully watching israel's reactions to the crisis. nasrallah also formally accused saudi arabia of detaining former lebanese prime minister saad hariri. in a raree show of unity between rivals nasrullah defended the legitimacy of her earrings govovernment. callining his resignation unconstitutional because it was done under duress well long hezbollah has long been one of her earrings most outspoken political opponents. and has been accused of killing her aries father former prime minister rafiq hariri i

did blame hezbollah and its patron iran for meddling in arab affairs this plunged lebanon into a new political crisis and there are fears it may be at the forefront of the regional saudi iranian rivalry. and lebanon are divided in. similar parties to similar talks one is. and the other is this which means if things will be worth it means that can lead to confrontation between the two parties like what happened in two thousand and six two thousand and seven two thousand and which can happen so that's why we should find a solution to keep or to save the decision. it might be a while before that happens lebanon's president michel aoun has been meeting with representatives of the country's security agencies he is supposed to be holding parliamentary consultations to appoint a new prime minister but the constitutional process is now on hold. we have been told by the president that we won't take any decision before know what the circumstances of her leader's resignation from the prime minister himself. it will be hard to find a prime minister to replace her leaving according to lebanon's p

we hear from people who are not members of hezbollah the same thing he is our prime minister we want him back yes they have been used to not worry about a civil war maybe many many from the outside they are seeing the country that it would head towards civil war again after what happened after the sytycd nation that it is exactly that what it about something bigger than this about the c. ninety or one nine hundred eighty two would happen again would it be again a lib i don't which is the israeli invasion i mean if you take a look about so you think there's an you think there's the israeli component in this possibly that's what the authorities are saying there's a big settlement is going on in the region and that is ignatius part of it if you take a look at what trump is saying and tweeting we're going to cut it on its head hezbollah and lebanon very soon if you hear what the saudis thought it is they are talking about the politicians after the head it is ignatius said that actually in his a designation that i'm designing because of iran and because of hezbollah and defeating inside l

against hezbollah and they knowing or forces against against hezbollah so it was like a coup by this who would use the word of the lebanese people think about the prospect of a return to the dark days of the civil war and that's one of the boats it did work because he says people are getting up each other and i'm seeing here i'm working with with people with different with different religion and we all accept each other. we were kill almost. in the last war i remember everything there was no electricity no water we cannot survive another war. i'm afraid there will be a civil war again but i help that god will stop this from happening i am a sunni muslim but i have friends from all faiths shia druze and others we are all brothers will continue to call these peacefully sunni shia maronite for us the most important thing for the citizens of lebanon may god grant that there will be no civil war lebanon is one of the few countries in the middle east which has managed to maintain a balance between its many sectarian factions but that balance can be fragile could be upset by certain regiona

the leader of hezbollah actually went on to claim that the lebanese prime minister is actually being held under house arrest by the saudis calling it an unprecedented in for intervention in lebanon's internal affairs and that's because lebanon's outgoing prime minister hasn't been seen since last week when he announced his resignation in the saudi capital and what's more surprising is that harare's own party back in lebanon who is in opposition to has also think the same thing that he was forced to make that resignation speech by saudi arabia and that he's being held there against his will putting the question of his whereabouts aside there's also the focus of his resignation speech that's something that's also very important to note in that he specifically and ardently attacked iran accusing the country of planting discord and destruction and interfering in arab countries also warning that the hit their hand of influence in the region would be cut off and in the wake of all of that saudi arabia and three of their allies actually urged all of their citizens to leave lebanon immediate

however let me tell you this is a war against lebanon and the entire living on and not hezbollah. hassan nasrallah the hezbollah leader speaking earlier the saudi bahraini government urged the citizens to leave lebanon immediately while the u.a.e. is telling its people to comply with a travel ban that's already in place hundreds of goal citizens have been departing from beirut let's go live to al-jazeera is in harder was in the lebanese capital for is a net loss of concern and questions about the whereabouts of saddam let's start with what hasan nasrallah has been saying hezbollah's leader calling for unity calling for lebanon's political factions to stand together this is quite significant isn't it zain. well yes sagal heidi is our political opponent but he is also our prime minister the words of hassan nasrallah the secretary general of hezbollah like you mentioned he's calling for calm calling for unity telling the people stay off the streets he was talking to the lebanese as a whole not just to his constituency saying that saudi arabia wants to incite internal strife and that

resolutions to that effect and they want hezbollah for example to withdraw its fighters from syria but hezbollah has always been defiant and said that these arms are necessary to protect lebanon and refusing to withdraw from syria. all right for now zain asher thank you very much. now president trump has warned of unfair global trade policies at the apec summit in vietnam and a meeting he told leaders of he won't let the u.s. be i quote taken advantage of mr trump says he won't tolerate unfair trade deals but insists that he still wants strong relationships with apec countries what. we have been friends partners and allies in the indo-pacific for a long long time and we will be friends partners and allies for a long time to come i am here to offer a renewed partnership with america to work together to strengthen the bonds of friendship and commerce between all of the nations of the indo-pacific and together to promote our prosperity and security at the core of this partnership we seek robust trade relationships rooted in the principles of fairness and reciprocity well despite mr trump'

now hezbollah of course is a party that has an armed wing it's a. arms has always been a source of contention in lebanon its forces are fighting alongside the syrian president bashar assad but hezbollah is also a political party it has members in government it has members in parliament it has allies it has supporters here so telling lebanese leaders to choose between a terror and and peace really so people are concerned and some statements are even saying there are those who will stop hezbollah and make them return to the caves of southern lebanon so very tough rhetoric in fact threatening levanon but not saying or stopping short of saying what action they are going to take it is clear that saudi arabia is not going to accept hezbollah in the government but what else are they going to ask for this crisis to be resolved are they going to ask for hezbollah's arms to be disarmed for as well as to be this armed that is definitely not going to happen and hezbollah is not going to accept that on the hand that would deem is in the rainy anomalous the middl

hezbollah while of course a very powerful armed group here in lebanon it is also a very potent political force as well and of course the basis of mr hariri is resignation prime minister saad hariri is resignation on saturday in which he quite uncharacteristically use very strong language not only describing your iran but also hezbollah and so that leads many political observers here to think that this is. surely but this is about what this crisis is about some going as far as saying that this is being engineered by saudi arabia to create some sort of political strife here in lebanon to try to push this hezbollah block into a corner but as we've been saying some very strong language coming out from the saudi leadership as this conflict if you will as this crisis continues to escalate right side how really the the i suppose we call him former prime minister now he resigned suddenly on saturday in riyadh it's now in the u.a.e. it's rumored that he will return to lebanon sometime this week what more do we know about what sort of reception will he get. it's a curious case of saad hariri as so

today, the hezbollah leader responded. he accused saudi arabia of deliberately detaining the lebanese prime minister, and forcing him to resign. this, he said, amounted to a declaration of war on lebanon. it is the recent defeat of so—called islamic state in syria and iraq which is behind this crisis. iran and hezbollah played a key role in these battles. now they wield significant influence in all these areas, much to the frustration of saudi arabia. supporters of hezbollah in lebanon feel they are very much the target of saudi arabia's anger. translation: the americans, saudis and israelis are all trying to present hezbollah for maximising its gains from wars in syria and iraq. hezbollah and its allies have achieved enormous success , allies have achieved enormous success, but they now face huge pressure because of this. with tensions rising between saudi arabia, which is predominantly sunni muslim, and iran, which is shi'ite, the french president emmanuel macron akin to the region yesterday to try to mediate. to preve

iran's ally the lebanese party has and its allies had a powerful role in government but hezbollah is not only a political party it has an armed wing that has helped keep syrian president bashar assad's government in power iran's influence has expanded across the middle east and saudi arabia the united states and israel have all made it clear they intend to take a more aggressive stance to curb iran's power in lebanon now there is a dangerous political vacuum there can't be easily filled levanon it is a parliamentary democracy but in reality it is a consensual democracy the two rival political camps need to agree on a compromise candidate who will be able to put together a national unity government that won't be easy and his allies refuse to share power with hezbollah and appointing a candidate close to hezbollah will risk isolating lebanon this isn't the first time political life in lebanon has come to an end and it isn't the first time the saudi arabian rivalry is to blame in the past the country has pulled back from the edge the question many ask is if it will be able to do so agai

consolidates is hold on power after eleven princes and four ministers arrested in a corruption crackdown hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah accuse a saudi arabia of forcing the lebanese prime minister to resign and donald trump's commerce secretary is among the names revealed in a massive document leak that details how the world's elite hide their well. at least twenty people have been killed in a shooting at a church east of san antonio in the u.s. state of texas a man entered the church in the small town of sutherland springs and started firing at people before police managed to contain the situation local media reports suggest the gunman is now dead specialist firearms and explosives agents are at the scene where community church leaders have been describing the events immediately following the attack. it was probably about eleven. eleven fifteen or so we got some people in our church we had the deputy and some other people in our church when we got a call that there was and that if you were going to she was going on down to earth or first baptist church those people first responders immediately

them during during the invasion of and created hezbollah but in the end hezbollah is the lebanese and it will remain eleven years and that the and every and that. maintain their relationship and i don't think that's going to change anytime soon ok we have to leave it there in beirut many thanks. a south african delegation is in zimbabwe to mediate a way out of the political crisis there the army seized power on weapons state and placed the president robert mugabe under house arrest it was angered by the sacking of the vice president last week has more now from the zimbabwean capital harare. meeting members from the army officials and the mugabe family officials on speaking so all the theories about how the scenarios could play out it's all just speculation nothing has been confirmed one source is saying that the catholic church is helping to mediate the political crisis and if it's alleging that president robert mugabe a want to respect the constitution of the party he wants them to wait until the december conference where delegates will be in a vote and decide whether he should step

has a state within a state and hezbollah has an armed wing it has a regional reach it has fighters in syria and in iraq so it is it has become very very strong its armed wing is even stronger than the national army and that is why saudi arabia wanted to do something to try to curb iran's influence across the region and they wanted to start here in lebanon but it all backfired because of the way in which it handled the situation the lebanese came together they saw the prime minister as well in one way or another hostage so you have this saudi iranian rivalry the french being of course lebanon's the former colonial power in lebanon today marking in the pens from french rule even though it's the french who are trying to mediate the crisis the latest political crisis in the. country so many players have influences in this country and that's why and all the different leaders are linked to these regional and international players so the decision is not made here in lebanon for sure readings in a way that israel's been pretty quiet on this one over the past forty eight hours given that israe

any country can take action against hezbollah as the us does although the hezbollah leader has repeatedly said whoever wants to oppose us let them oppose us but leave lebanon alone we do not want lebanon to suffer because of us we believe that any punishment directed against all the lebanese people will have consequences for those responsible and affect the entire region is what is europe whoever decides to punish lebanon should think carefully before making such a decision but everyone bears responsibility for their actions including hezbollah . a political satirist in the u.s. has carried out a social experiment to see what would cause more control the thing waving the american flag or terror group islamic states. where is country on planet earth to protect all freedoms right. now. and wonder to see what the reaction would be well another flag that's out there in the news. i denounce american imperialism. thank you. for looking after spending several hours waving my isis flag shouting pro isis anti american rhetoric the sum total of one person was upset by it. but the choice of location

yemen it means a thing is in his will or in yemen i don't think there is and hezbollah yes there is a horse and those horses are in particular part of yemen they are yemenis you know silicon valley we know that there are certainly in beirut because there are m.p.'s in the lebanese part of the nutley under the as well about what do you think that dog trump would have had to ok the elves went from this air apparent to the saudi or talk as regards the threats being made very clearly to lebanon after the southern exit of president hariri the situation in lebanon is deteriorating and yemen is heading towards you would escalate it could be a war that american talking start talks for the first time about that marrying. nineteen eighty three when a suicide attacks against the base in beirut killed two hundred and forty many's so this start talking about his beloved spearhead of terrorism. in the whole region and the stabilizing the whole planet so it seems now that the saudi joining the camp and we heard prince mohammed bin that crown prince saying clearly visible law is training and smugglin

any country can take action against hezbollah as the us does although the hezbollah leader has repeatedly said whoever wants to oppose us let them oppose us but leave lebanon alone we do not want lebanon to suffer because of us we believe that any punishment directed against all the lebanese people will have consequences for those responsible and affect the entire region is what is europe whoever decides to punish lebanon should think carefully before making such a decision but everyone bears responsibility for their actions including hezbollah the. german parties are struggling to form a new government almost two months after the election merkel's c.d.u. c.s.u. bloc the greens and the free democrats are trying to build a so-called jamaica coalition as their combined colors resemble that country's flag but the party still appear far from a deal with crucial decisions frozen or while they make up their mind as artist peter oliver explains merkel missed an important e.u. summit in sweden on friday as she struggles to form a government but the excuse she gave for not being in attendance hasn