Lebanon’s three-time former prime minister Saad Hariri has announced he is bowing out of politics and will not participate in May’s parliamentary elections, dealing a potentially lethal blow to the polls in a nation suffering one of the worst economic collapses in modern history.
Mr Hariri, who was once backed by Saudi Arabia where his family made its fortune, made the announcement in an emotional speech on Monday, where he acknowledged he had failed to prevent Lebanon from tumbling into a devastating economic tailspin.
