The Lebanese Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri, said that "the message has arrived," after statements by President Michel Aoun, in which he stressed that he would not yield to Hariri's pressures regarding the formation of the government.

Al-Hariri said in a short and unspecified tweet on his Twitter page: "The message has arrived ... There is no need to respond. We ask God for mercy on the Lebanese."

Aoun had denied, in a press interview, seeking to obtain the blocking third in the new government, pointing out that Hariri insists on naming the Christian ministers "and he has become eccentric."

Aoun said, "Hariri is trying to embarrass me to divert me from the proper formation rules of the government, but I will not acquiesce."