Sharjah 24 – AFP: Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri announced Monday he would not run in upcoming parliamentary elections and was withdrawing from political life.
The announcement could jeopardise the crisis-hit country's ballot altogether and marks the end of an era that saw the Hariri family dominate Lebanese Sunni politics since the end of the civil war in 1990.
The 51-year-old three-time premier announced his decision during a press conference in the capital Beirut.
The Sunni Muslim leader said he was "suspending his work in political life" and urged fellow members of his Future party to also leave the political arena.
A tearful Hariri, who was first elected to parliament in 2005, declared he would not run in the legislative polls due in May.
"I am convinced there is no room for any positive opportunity for Lebanon due to Iranian influence, international upheaval, national division, sectarianism, and the collapse of the state," he said.
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