[WATCH] Former Lebanon prime minister says he is 'free' in Saudi Arabia

Saad Hariri rejected rumours that he is being held in Saudi Arabia against his will and pledged to return to Beirut "very soon" to affirm his decision to quit as Lebanon's prime minister.

The comments were made in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, as Hariri spoke publicly for the first time, since his shock resignation just over a week ago. 

Speaking on Sunday on Future TV, a station affiliated with his political party, Hariri said he was free in Saudi Arabia.

"Here in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I am free. I have complete freedom, but I want to look after my family as well," he said, adding that he planned to return to Lebanon in the near future.

"I'm not talking about months ... I'm only talking about days and I'll go back to Lebanon."

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim politician and ally of Saudi Arabia, quit as prime minister on 4 November, during his visit to Saudi Arabia.

Reading out his resignation in a televised statement from Riyadh, the former prime minister blamed interference in Iran and Lebanon and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah for his decision to quit. Hariri added that he was in fear of an assassination attempt.

His father, Rafik Hariri, was killed in a truck bomb explosion in 2005.

Lebanese officials said that Hariri is likely to be under either house arrest or in temporary detention in Riyadh.

"The majority of the Lebanese believe, in one way or another, that there is something wrong," said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut.

"The aim of this interview really is to try and convince the majority of the Lebanese that he is not a hostage, that he has the freedom of movement and that the Saudis are not dictating to him what to say or what to do."

Hariri's resignation, just 11 months after he took office, plunged Lebanon into uncertainty, threatening the country's fragile political stability and raising concerns over an open-ended crisis.

It has also stoked fears of an escalation in the regional divide between Iran and the Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia, with Lebanon on the front lines.

Hariri is part of a unity government that also includes rival political factions such as those supported by Hezbollah, a popular Shia group which is represented in the Lebanese parliament and has a strong armed wing. 

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, on Friday said Hariri is currently detained in Saudi Arabia and that his "forced" resignation is unconstitutional because it was done "under pressure".

Speaking in Beirut, Nasrallah said he was sure Hariri was forced to resign as part of what he called Saudi Arabia's policy of stoking sectarian tensions in Lebanon.

In his interview on Sunday, Hariri said he wrote his own resignation speech, insisting that he was not forced to step down.

"I wanted to make a positive shock for the Lebanese people so the people know how dangerous the situation we are in," he said.