France under President Emmanuel Macron has played a leading role in trying to avert a fresh crisis in Lebanon following the surprise resignation of its prime minister Saad Hariri. Hariri arrived in Paris on Saturday on Macron's invitation, after the premier once again dismissed rumours that he had been held against his will in Saudi Arabia since announcing his resignation there on November 4. As Macron holds talks with Hariri, AFP explains France's role in working to defuse the situation. - Why is France involved? Links between France and multi-faith Lebanon go back at least to the 16th century, when King Francis I signed an agreement with the Ottoman Empire giving the French royals the status of protectors of Christians in the Middle East. With the fall of the Ottomans in 1920, Lebanon emerged as a contemporary state but it was administered by France under a League of Nations mandate until 1943, when it gained independence. Since then, France has maintained clos...