Mazloum Denies Postponement of Maronite Meeting Linked to al-Rahi and LF Spat
Bishop Samir Mazloum has denied that a conference of Maronite MPs that was set to be held in Bkirki next month was postponed to avoid a meeting between Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.
In remarks to Akhbar Alyawm news agency on Monday, Mazloum stressed that the April 3 meeting was postponed after the committee tasked with drafting a law on the parliamentary elections failed to complete its mission.
Al-Rahi sees the campaigns launched against him in a “democratic way whereby each side is free to express its opinion,” the bishop said.
The patriarch expresses his vision on the future and it’s up to them to like what he says or not, Mazloum stressed and reiterated that al-Rahi is working based on the known principles of Bkirki.
“With all due respect, it’s not up to politicians to decide what direction Bkirki is taking,” he told the news agency.
His remarks came after sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Monday that Lebanese Forces MPs were mulling to boycott the meeting of Maronite lawmakers over their dispute with al-Rahi on his controversial statements.
Al-Rahi accused Geagea this month of misinterpreting his statements on the Syrian crisis.
The patriarch on several occasions announced his concerns over the Christians in the region amid the ongoing crises and expressed fears that the violence in the Arab world could turn the Arab Spring into an Arab winter.
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