I thought that Hariri's trip to France would answer the "is he being held prisoner" question, but I didn't account for the possibility of hostages:
Mr. Hariri’s two younger children, a 16-year-old daughter, Loulwa, and a 12-year-old son, Abdulaziz, did not appear in television footage of his arrival. The two have been attending school in Saudi Arabia and could have stayed behind for that reason, but their apparent absence was an obstacle to ending concerns that Mr. Hariri was not acting freely. It left room for speculation that the Saudis had pressured Mr. Hariri to leave them in the country as leverage.Just the fact that people are openly wondering if a close American ally forced the prime minister of another country to resign, held him prisoner, and now is letting him leave but only because he left two children behind so they can serve as hostages is completely insane.
