But it was brought to a head on 3 November, at a lunch in Beirut being hosted by prime minister Saad Hariri. Midway through the meal with the visiting French cultural minister, Françoise Nyssen, Hariri received a call and his demeanour changed. Within hours Hariri, by then in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, had resigned his position, concluding his transition from Lebanese leader to Saudi envoy and Lebanon’s transformation from outpost to ground zero of a stunning regional escalation. It is a big deal.”Among all its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been the most valuable – and potent. Their patience ran out last year when the Saudi construction sector collapsed, dragging down with it a company that Hariri chaired.

Source: The Guardian November 11, 2017 16:28 UTC