BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea said Wednesday that during a visit to Riyadh late last year he and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri had discussed the period after the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“We held a very long meeting which touched upon everything. We not only spoke of a post-Assad government stage but also the stage before he falls,” he told Kuwait-based Al-Rai newspaper in an interview published Wednesday.

On Dec. 26, Geagea, a leading member of the March 14 coalition, traveled to Riyadh where he met with high-ranking Saudi officials including Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdel-Aziz al-Saud, Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and Hariri.

“We also discussed the current situation and our position in case [Lebanon’s] government does not last,” Geagea told the daily.

Last week, Geagea said that Lebanon should begin a process of state building following the collapse of Assad’s government, which he predicted would likely happen in 2012.

Hariri and Geagea, both staunch critics of Assad, have voiced their support for the anti-government protests in Damascus and called on Assad to end the crisis and step down.

The U.N. estimates over 5,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the uprising began in mid-March last year. Syria’s government maintains some 2,000 security and army personnel have been killed by “armed gangs,” which it also blames for the killing of civilians.