Patriarch: sectarian militias could lead to Lebanon’s destruction
July 16, 2013
The Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church is warning that the rise of sectarian militias allied to other nations will destroy Lebanon.
“The Lebanese built their country on the basis of living together, preserving Lebanon against any loyalty to other nations of the East or the West,” said Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï in reference to Lebanon’s 1943 National Pact, which assigned difference political offices to Christians and Muslims. Sectarian militias, he said, are leading to the “law of the jungle and an increase in crime.”
Bishop François Eid explained that the Patriarch was referring to “the Shiite militia of Hezbollah, [which] fell to the side of the Syrian regime, while the Salafis’ militia [has] gone to Syria to fight alongside the rebels. Our country is already immersed in that terrible conflict. And this, for Lebanon, can be devastating.”
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