Lebanon's president will not take any steps regarding Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's resignation before Hariri returns from abroad, Justice Minister Salim Jreissati said Monday, stressing that "the resignation must be voluntary in every sense."
Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said later Monday that he expected Hariri would return to Lebanon within days.
Machnouk also said Hariri's meeting with Saudi King Salman in Riyadh Monday showed "rumours" were untrue, in an apparent reference to speculation in Lebanon that Hariri had been detained in Saudi Arabia or forced to quit.
Hariri stepped down Saturday, saying he believed there was an assassination plot against him and accusing Iran with its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.
President Michel Aoun also said Monday that political leaders had been responsive to calls for calm, strengthening security and national unity after the prime minister's shock resignation.
Aoun called the country's stability a "red line" amidst the resignation.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah Sunday accused Saudi Arabia of forcing Hariri to resign, stating the group "did not seek this resignation."
