Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Tuesday returned to the country nearly 20 days after announcing his resignation in Saudi Arabia, BBC reported. Pictures in local media showed Hariri arriving at the Beirut international airport and greeting security forces. Hariri met state leaders in Egypt and Cyprus before making his way to Beirut.

On Saturday, he had met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and promised to return to Lebanon to take part in the independence celebrations on Wednesday. He said, “It is there that I will make known my position... after meeting President Aoun.”

Hariri had resigned on November 4, saying he believed there was a conspiracy to assassinate him. He also accused Iran and the Hezbollah, its ally from Lebanon, of sowing “fear and destruction” in several Arab countries.

However, there has been speculation that Saudi Arabia had forced him to resign. On November 11, Lebanese President Michel Aoun had told Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the country, Walid al-Bukhari, that the circumstance in which Hariri resigned were unacceptable and that he would not accept the resignation till he returns to the country.

The leader of the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, had also accused Saudi Arabia of declaring war on his country and said that he was sure Hariri was forced to resign as part of what he called Saudi Arabia’s policy of inciting sectarian tensions in Lebanon. He accused Riyadh of “blunt, unprecedented interference”.

Both Hariri and Saudi Arabia have, however, denied these allegations.

Saad al-Hariri, Lebanon’s most influential Sunni politician, became the prime minister in November 2016. He had earlier held the position between 2009 and 2011. He is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, which is strongly opposed to the leadership in Iran.