Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch will visit Saudi Arabia next week and has received "a positive response" from Saudi officials over the possibility of meeting with Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as prime minister, his spokesman said.

The head of the Maronite Catholic church, Patriarch Beshara al-Rai, will take a message to the kingdom that "Lebanon cannot handle conflict," spokesman Walid Ghayyad said. A meeting between Rai and Hariri will take place in principle, he said.

Lebanon believes Riyadh is holding Hariri, who resigned as prime minister in a surprise weekend broadcast from the kingdom, two top Lebanese government officials said on Thursday.

Arabic Version