BEIRUT: Lebanon?s Saad al-Hariri arrived in Cyprus for a meeting with its president on Tuesday, Hariri said on his Twitter feed, ahead of his expected return to Beirut to take part in independence day celebrations on Wednesday.

Hariri is expected to return to Lebanon in the coming hours, his first trip home since his sudden resignation as prime minister on Nov. 4 plunged the country into political crisis.

?It was a 45-minute meeting which was requested earlier today through diplomatic channels,? Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides told Reuters of the meeting between Hariri and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

?We, and he, desire to see stability in Lebanon. He is leaving as we speak,? he added.