Saudi Arabia has decided to pull out of mediation talks on creating a new Lebanese government following the resignation of Hezbollah ministers.
In an interview with Dubai-based Arabic al-Arabiya news channel on Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said King Abdullah has decided to “withdraw his hand” from Lebanon.
He also described the situation in Lebanon as "dangerous" and expressed fears of division in the nation.
"If the situation reaches full separation and (regional) partition, this means the end of Lebanon as a state that has this model of peaceful cohabitation between (different) religions and ethnicities," he further explained.
Lebanon is in a political standoff after Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government collapsed last week when 11 Hezbollah-affiliated ministers resigned in a dispute over the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Hariri and over 20 other people were assassinated on February 14, 2005, when explosives equal to around 1,000 kilogram of TNT were blown up in downtown Beirut.
The Washington-sponsored STL was set up some two years later to look into the deadly incident.
Reports say that the court would likely issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has vehemently rebuffed the allegations. He has described the plot as part of dangerous projects that are targeting the resistance movement.
The Lebanese As-Safir daily in November said that the United States is exerting "intensive" pressure on Hariri tribunal under the motto: "No discussions before an indictment is issued."
