AKIPRESS.COM - France says Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has accepted an invitation to travel there from Saudi Arabia, where Beirut says he is being detained, BBCreported.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters the timing of the visit was for Mr Hariri to decide, but that the Saudi government had been informed.

He spoke a day after meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.

Mr Hariri resigned unexpectedly during a visit to Saudi Arabia on 4 November, sparking a political crisis in Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun for the first time publicly accused the Saudi authorities of detaining him, saying "nothing justified" his absence.

For his part, Mr Hariri insisted that he was fine and would soon return to Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia has denied holding Mr Hariri against his will or pressing him to resign in an attempt to curb the influence of its regional rival Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, which is part of a unity government Mr Hariri formed last year.