BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanons-hariris-turbulent-career-politics-2022-01-24 said on Monday he was stepping back from political life and would not run in the parliamentary election, turning Lebanon's sectarian politics on its head as the country grapples with a financial crisis.
Hariri, three times prime minister, also called on his party not to run any candidates in May's vote, indicating several factors were behind his decision, including Iranian influence -- a reference to the heavily armed Shi'ite group Hezbollah.