Lebanon's Hariri steps away from politics, upending election landscape

FILE PHOTO: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri heads a meeting with the future parliamentary bloc in Beirut, Lebanon January 21, 2022. . Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanons-hariris-turbulent-career-politics-2022-01-24 said on Monday he was stepping back from political life and would not run in the parliamentary election, turning Lebanon's sectarian politics on its head as the country grapples with a financial crisis.

Hariri, three times prime minister, also called on his party not to run any candidates in May's vote, indicating several factors were behind his decision, including Iranian influence -- a reference to the heavily armed Shi'ite group Hezbollah.