Saad al-Hariri with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun (left) at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon.

:: Sources have told News Agency that the assassination attempt on Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri had been thwarted in Beirut a few days ago.

Giving details, the sources said: “The planners of Hariri’s assassination attempt disrupted the watchtowers (control towers) when his convoy was passing by.”

Hariri travelled to Saudi Arabia on Friday and announced his resignation as prime minister on Saturday in a speech condemning Iran and Hezbollah and saying he feared assassination. “I have sensed what is being plotted covertly to target my life,” he said.

It may be recalled that Saad’s father, then prime minister Rafik Hariri was in 2005 killed by triggering a massive roadside bomb as his convoy passed by.

Rafik Hariri assassination in 2005

In his speech, Saad Hariri said the atmosphere in the country is similar to the one that existed before his father, the late prime minister Rafik Hariri, was assassinated in 2005.

“We are living in a climate similar to the atmosphere that prevailed before the assassination of (his father the late prime minister) martyr Rafik al-Hariri”.

Meanwhile, former Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has said he salutes Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri for his decision to step down.

In statements to Al-Hadath channel, Suleiman stated that “what is required now from the President of the Republic is to direct the neutralization of Lebanon.”

Referring to Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon, he stressed that “no state can build another state inside Lebanon” and “there cannot be two armies.”

The former president urged the need “to withdraw Hezbollah from Syria, and to develop a defensive strategy.”

He stressed that “the settlements must not come at the expense of the sovereignty of Lebanon.”