Al-Rahi Slams 'Armed Attack on Minister', Says Reconciliation a 'Red Line'
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Monday voiced regret over “the bloody incidents” that occurred Sunday in the Aley town of Qabrshmoun and strongly condemned “the armed attack that almost killed a government minister and resulted in the death of two of his bodyguards.”
“It ignited the fire of strife, disrupted peace and sparked panic and fear,” al-Rahi lamented.
He also called for resorting to legal norms and urged security forces to “pursue the perpetrators, arrest them immediately and hand them over to the judiciary.”
Addressing political leaders, al-Rahi urged them to “rein in their rhetoric” and “stop the campaigns of provocation and sectarian incitement.”
“They mist respect the other opinion and freedom of expression,” he said.
The patriarch also said that “national reconciliations, whether in Mount Lebanon or between the Lebanese parties, are a red line that no one has the right to cross.”
Two bodyguards of State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib were killed and a third was wounded in a clash with supporters of the Progressive Socialist Party on Sunday. A PSP supporters was also wounded in the clash.
The PSP and Gharib's Lebanese Democratic Party have traded blame over the incident.
PSP supporters had earlier blocked roads in the Aley district to prevent Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil from touring the region.
Source: Naharnet
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