The Saudi embassy in Beirut is 'selling its cars'

The Saudi embassy in Beirut is "selling its cars" amid tensions between Beirut and Riyadh this past week, according to Al Araby.

Local reports confirmed a number of Lebanese car dealers were standing outside the Saudi embassy in Beirut on Friday to purchase the consulate's used cars after it had made the announcement. 

"We buy the cars, we fix any problems they might have and then we sell them back," a car dealer said, >according to Al Araby.

According to Federica Marsi, a journalist at The Daily Star, the embassy has been selling cars for months, she wrote in a tweet on Saturday. 

The decision comes after Saudi Arabia >asked its citizens to "immediately" leave Lebanon, advising Saudi nationals not to travel to the country. 

Soon after, other Gulf countries followed the kingdom's lead >including the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait. 

Saudi Arabia's advisory comes on the heels of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's shock resignation in Riyadh on Nov. 4. 

Hariri, who is a dual Saudi and Lebanese national and widely believed to be backed by the Saudi government, in his resignation speech cited fears for his life and called out Hezbollah, which maintains a military wing. 

He said the group, which has been heavily involved in Syria supporting President Bashar Al Assad, is a destabilizing force within Lebanon.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah responded to Hariri's comments claiming Riyadh had "imposed" the decision on the prime minister.

"It is clear that the resignation was a Saudi decision that was imposed on Prime Minister Hariri. It was not his intention, not his wish, and not his decision," Nasrallah claimed, according to Voice of America.

During the interview, which took place Sunday evening, Hariri reassured the public that he is >not under house arrest in Saudi Arabia and will be returning to Lebanon within days.

In one of the first >statements he made during the live interview, Hariri addressed the reasons for his resignation, in which he said:

"I resigned because this is what's best for Lebanon and the Lebanese people." 

He also added that his resignation was his own decision, dismissing reports that he was forced to quit a unity government with Hezbollah. 

When Yacoubian stated that his resignation had not been officially accepted by the country's president and people, he replied:

"I understand that my resignation violated Lebanon's constitution and this is why I will correct things very soon and travel to Lebanon in order to submit an official one."