Sfeir: False Witnesses Must be Held Accountable

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Friday said false witnesses in the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri must be held accountable.

"I know nothing about false witnesses, but any false witness should be held accountable," Sfeir told reporters at Beirut Airport before heading for Rome where he will take part in the Middle East Synod.

He welcomed a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon, planned for mid-October.

On plans to visit Damascus, however, Sfeir said "the relationship with Damascus is still as it is. There isn't anything new."

Sfeir, however, said he has to mull Tehran visit after Iran's Ambassador extended an invitation to the Patriarch to visit Iran.