Aoun Sees Lebanon Center for Religious Dialogue, Notes Bids to Devoid Levant of Christians
President Michel Aoun stressed on Saturday that Lebanon will be a global center for religious and civilizations dialogue, as he noted that the region is witnessing a plan to devoid the Levant of Christians.
“Lebanon can be a global center for dialogue among religions and civilizations, this is because it includes religions and doctrines of the world and its sons live together in it,” said Aoun in an interview with SAT-7 TV network on the occasion of Easter.
“To achieve this end, we have to try lobbying pressure everywhere in order to obtain the United Nations acceptance. We want Lebanon to be an official international center for dialogue, not just a state initiative,” added the President.
He stressed that political differences between the Lebanese do not stem from religious differences.
“We have to make the world understand that we still enjoy the highest levels of civilization in terms of freedom of belief and the right to be different, which may sometimes reach us chaotic more than any other country in the world,” he noted.
On the rattled situation in the Orient, Aoun said: “The happenings in the region have dangerous political goals and aim to devoid the Levant of Christians and divide the region into several statelets.
“The migration from the East began long ago, especially from Israel, where for example out of %22 of Christians in Jerusalem only one percent remained. In other cases, especially in Syria, Iraq and sometimes in Egypt, Kenya and Libya, a group killed Christians as well as Muslims and destroyed churches and mosques alike.”
To a question on his role as the sole Christian president in the Arab countries with a mission to promote understanding and coexistence amid what is happening, Aoun said: “We have a vital extension in this Levant, and the atmospheres were agitated in the region. Therefore I started visiting countries that should be friendly and restored ties to normal. God willing, we will continue in this direction.”
Source: Naharnet
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