Hariri meets with Mikati after arriving in Beirut

Ex-PM and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri held talks Monday at the Grand Serail in Beirut with caretaker PM Najib Mikati.

Mikati welcomed Hariri and hoped the Feb. 14 anniversary of the assassination of his father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri, will be "a unifying occasion that asserts the unity of the Lebanese in the face of the dangers that Lebanon is facing." He later threw a lunch banquet in Hariri's honor.

Hariri had arrived overnight in Beirut coming from the United Arab Emirates, his press office said.

“He is staying at the Center House in preparation for his marking of the 19th anniversary of the martyrdom of his father Rafik Hariri and his companions on February 14,” the press office said.

Media reports said Hariri also intends to meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan.

“Berri will seek to bring together Hariri and ex-PSP chief Walid Jumblat,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported.

And as sources close to Mikati described Hariri’s return to Beirut as “beneficial,” media reports said the ex-PM has received an invitation to visit Moscow and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.