Saniora Welcomes Papal Visit, Says Lebanon’s Sovereignty Violated by Israel, Syria
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربيةAl-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader Fouad al-Saniora urged the Lebanese people to unite against continuous Israeli violations of Lebanon's sovereignty, which is now being violated by Syria, welcoming the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon.
“The souls of our citizens are being violated by Israel and today by the Syrian regime,” Saniora told reporters after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.
He said that the visit of Benedict is a “significant” step during the critical phase the region is passing through.
“This step confirms the late pope John Paul II’s statements that coexistence in Lebanon isn’t a simple matter and Christians in the Middle East are a fundamental component,” Saniora pointed out.
He stressed that al-Mustaqbal movement and its supporters will be among the people first to welcome the pope.
The pope is due to leave on Friday for a three-day visit to Lebanon, which has been battling to contain an eruption of violence triggered by Syria's bloodshed, including a spate of mass kidnappings.
Benedict is expected to bring a message of peace for the Middle East.
Saniora said that al-Mustaqbal movement and al-Rahi have “identical points of view” that will not be separated no matter how hard others try.
“The dreadful plot to target the northern region of Akkar during al-Rahi’s visit was thwarted by the security agencies,” he noted.
Al-Mustaqbal bloc head stated that al-Rahi’s successful visit to Akkar indicates how much the Lebanese are holding on to their country, “coexistence remains the foundation” in Lebanon.
He was referring to the case of ex-Minister Michel Samaha who was charged along with Syrian security chief Gen. Ali Mamlouk and another officer known by his first name as Adnan with plotting terror attacks and assassinations of political and religious figures in the country.
Concerning the film "Innocence of Muslims” which portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent, Saniora denounced the movie saying: “We refuse these kind of offenses.”
“The timing of the film aims at creating incitement and angering Muslims to divide them among each other and with the Western community,” he said.
He considered that regardless of the nationality of whoever produced this movie, “it doesn’t mean that his compatriots are responsible for his actions.”
The film pokes fun at the Prophet Mohammed and touches on themes of pedophilia and homosexuality, while showing him sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as "the first Muslim animal."
Mystery has deepened over the film, with conflicting accounts from backers and promoters but no one owning up to having actually directed it.
U.S. media initially cited someone claiming to be an American-Israeli calling himself Sam Bacile as saying he made the film on a $5 million budget with the help of 100 Jews, but no record of such a person has been found.

yeah... well nothing new here. We all knew that Israel/Syria/Iran are all in together to violate our sovereignty and our physical integrity for some. Not sure the Papal visit will change anything, I guess we'll find out soon enough!

kaka, blah blah blah..wahabi..blah blah blah..saudi..blah blah blah..you are an idiot broken record...

Fpm comments are soooooo stupid!!! it makes you wonder :)
simply put, saniora refuted aoun's claims that the allies of geagea do not accept smaall districts :)

I'm a little tea pot
Short and stout
Here is my handle
Here is my..
where the hell is my spout
Carp! I shoved it up my arse again. Damn flexibly!!

Instead of wasting their time and talking among themselves about Israels "violation" of Lebanese territory, wouldn't it be more worthwhile to talk directly to Israel about it.
I'm sure that Israel is not interested in one single square centimeter of Lebanese territory, something I'm not sure that the Lebanese Government can say about Syria.

Aoun MTV 2002 interview with Elie Nakouzi, before the caporal become the so called hezb Allah's slave: "In Lebanon there was a UN Resolution (452), meanwhile Hezbollah has prolonged the time of occupation of South Lebanon. There was a proposal from Israel in 1994. Would the Lebanese government tell us why at that time it withdrew from the negotiations when the Israeli proposal for withdrawal from South Lebanon was submitted... "The Shebaa Farms is a big lie; I am fully responsible for what I am saying. We can't adjust the map in accordance to our mood. Shebaa Farms are not Lebanese. Even if they were, this land was confiscated by Syria since a long time and Lebanon has been silent about it. The Lebanese government did not state once that it has an occupied land subjected to UN resolution 242. Let them leave the Shebaa story which is originally a fabricated one, they want to keep the borders open."

It does not matter if you like Saniora or not, but what he said in Bkirki and condemning both the film and the barbaric reactions against the US makes him a Statesman unlike the other politicians in Lebanon.

Lebanon has 4 main enemies: the Baath regime of Syria, The Hezz terrorists, Iran, and Israel.

sinioura at least recognizes that there are two enemies for lebanon : syria and israel!
when M8 only find one enemy: israel! they bless everything the syrians do even the killings and abductings of lebanese....but israel? no way!
double M8 standards....