Al-Rahi Offers Condolences in Tripoli, Urges 'Reconciliation, Dialogue'

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday offered condolences at al-Taqwa Mosque in Tripoli, the site of one of two powerful bombings that left around 45 people dead and 500 others wounded in the northern city.

“We extend our condolences and say that we're also feeling what you're feeling because the disaster affected everyone,” al-Rahi said in a speech at al-Taqwa Mosque.

“After ten days from the Ruwais bombing, the same hand of evil orchestrated the Tripoli bombings and I tell you in the name of the Maronite church that the tragedy in Dahieh and the tragedy in Tripoli are our tragedies because we are one body and one family,” the patriarch added.

“We prayed for the souls of the Ruwais and Tripoli bombings and we voice our anguish,” he said.

Addressing the rival political parties in Lebanon, al-Rahi said “condemnation alone is not enough as the blood that was shed is urging the conscience of the rival parties to wake up.”

“All those who fell were killed as a result of the absence of harmony, frankness and dialogue. Had we been united and had we shouldered the responsibility of building the state, we wouldn't have reached the disasters we're witnessing today,” he added.

“I ask officials in power: Aren't all these martyrs enough for us to reach a reconciliation and shouldn't these disasters push us to sit together around the dialogue table so that Lebanon can regain its role in this Levant?” al-Rahi said.

He called for finding “a salvation plan for the sake of Lebanon.”

Earlier on Sunday, al-Rahi accused officials in his weekly sermon of being “responsible for the security chaos and the spread of illegitimate arms.”

“Officials and the disputed parties, who refuse to return to the national dialogue, who have been obstructing the formation of a new government, and who are crippling parliament, must realize that they are responsible for the chaos and bomb attacks that have been taking place in the country,” he remarked.

“Their responsibilities at a time of national catastrophes requires them to steer Lebanon away from regional and sectarian conflicts,” he said.

“They should liberate it from foreign orders and stop linking its fate to the developments in Syria and other countries,” al-Rahi stated.

“They can only achieve this through responsible and honest dialogue,” he noted.

“They must abandon personal and sectarian interests for the sake of national ones,” added the patriarch.

The political authorities must comply with President Michel Suleiman's call to “take national decisions, facilitate the formation of a new government, and return to dialogue without preconditions,” he said.

Powerful car bombs exploded outside two Sunni mosques in Tripoli on Friday.

The first bomb struck in the city center at the al-Salam Mosque as worshipers were still inside.

The second explosion struck just minutes later outside al-Taqwa Mosque, about two kilometers away, near the port.

On August 15, a huge explosion rocked Hizbullah's stronghold in the Beirut southern suburb of Ruwais, killing at least 27 people and wounded 325 others.