Hariri says Assad regime wants him killed

beirut - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri charged that the Syrian regime which he blames for his father's assassination also wants him killed, in an interview published on Thursday in French magazine Paris Match.
Hariri assessed that the regime's military successes against rebels in the Syrian conflict were victories for presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Iran's Hassan Rouhani rather than their allied Syrian counterpart Bashar Al Assad.
"I have a lot of enemies, extremists and the Syrian regime. The latter has issued a death sentence against me. They accuse me of interference in their country," said Hariri, who was interviewed at his Beirut residence.
Hariri says the regime in Syria was behind the 2005 assassination of his father, former premier Rafiq Hariri, in a car bombing on the Beirut seafront, a charge denied by Damascus.
At Lebanese President Michel Aoun's request, Hariri has suspended his shock resignation announced from Riyadh on November 4 and returned to Beirut after a three-week absence.
He cited Iran's "grip" on his country through Hezbollah and threats to his life as causes of his resignation.
On the military victories of Bashar's regime, Hariri told Paris Match: "He has not won. It's president Putin and Rouhani who have won" with the military forces they had committed to the conflict in Syria.
The premier, who has called for Hezbollah to "disassociate" itself from conflicts such as Syria where it has fought alongside Assad's forces, said: "It is in Lebanon's interest that these (Hezbollah's) arms not be used elsewhere."
Hariri said he fears Hezbollah's military role in regional conflicts will end up costing his country dearly.
But Hariri also stressed he was optimistic that a way to end the political paralysis gripping Lebanon following his resignation is being worked out.
"I wanted the world to understand that Lebanon can no longer tolerate the interferences of a party like Hezbollah in the affairs of the Gulf countries, where 300,000 Lebanese live," Hariri said. "We must not pay for the actions of Hezbollah."
Meanwhile, Hariri flew on Wednesday to Paris for a family visit, a source said.

• MENA