Saudi Arabia Lifts Lebanon Travel Ban For Its Citizens - Reports

Last month, Lebanon formed a new unity government, comprising the country's rival parties, following nine months of deadlock. The country's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri took the charge of the government once again following his resignation in 2017, while Hezbollah, a group which is accused by Israel and the US of fighting in Syria, got three seats out of 30, including control of the health ministry.

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The deadlock over government formation began in May 2018, shortly after the first parliamentary election to have been held in the country since 2009. During the elections, as many as 976 candidates competed for the 128 seats in parliament, which are distributed according to an ethnic-confessional principle between 11 groups. The vote took place in 15 Lebanese regions.

In November 2017, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced his unexpected resignation, while visiting Saudi Arabia. The former minister explained his move with concerns that he could be assassinated like his father and criticized the Lebanon-based Shiite Hezbollah paramilitary and political