Saad al-Hariri

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Lebanese President Michel Aoun intensified the crisis sparked by Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s surprise resignation by directly and unambiguously accusing Saudi Arabia of taking him prisoner in an “act of aggression against Lebanon.”

Contents: All Saudis ordered to leave Lebanon, as Hariri’s fate is unknown; Saudi Arabia blockades Yemen, threatening millions to die in famine

Aides to the former Sunni Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad al-Hariri, who recently announced his resignation via a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, have reportedly denied claims disseminated by a pro-Shiite Hezbollah newspaper that the Sunni kingdom is holding the influential politician under house arrest.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Sunday the door to electing a president was “wide open” and his members of parliament would vote for ally Michel Aoun at a parliamentary session at the end of October.

The Hariri family’s pre-eminent role in Lebanese politics is being shaken by a financial crisis at its Saudi construction firm, a development that could dilute Sunni influence in the country and leave Iran’s allies even more firmly in control.

Lebanon’s central bank has pushed its commercial banks to heed the U.S. act, and Blom Bank is one of those that has closed accounts belonging to people suspected of links to Hezbollah. The group had no immediate comment on the blast.