Lebanon's President Michel Aoun accused Wednesday Saudi Arabia of "detaining" Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who announced his resignation in the kingdom earlier this month.

Aoun said via the Lebanese presidency's Twitter account that nothing justified Hariri's continued stay in Saudi Arabia for 12 days, "therefore we consider him to be held and detained. This contradicts the Vienna Treaty and human rights."

Speculation has swirled about the circumstances of Hariri's resignation since his surprise announcement on Nov. 4 in a statement read on Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya television channel. Since then, he never returned to Lebanon.

Aoun has not yet officially accepted Hariri's resignation, and said he will not decide before meeting Hariri in person in Lebanon.

Later Wednesday, Hariri reaffirmed in a tweet that he was "fine and will return to Lebanon, as promised."

source: Xinhua