Lebanese Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi wants Hezbollah talks

Lebanon’s oldest Christian cleric, Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, called for a meeting with Iran’s backed political and paramilitary group Hezbollah, while urging neutrality in local conflicts to save the beleagured Middle Eastern country from further chaos. .

“I claim that there was no sincere and clear position regarding Hezbollah’s neutrality,” Al-Rahi told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Beirut. “And I’m waiting and I’m calling them to a meeting here where we are talking about neutrality and all its aspects, because neutrality is in the interest of all Lebanese and first Hezbollah. Because they are also Lebanese. Neutrality is in the interest of all. ‘

The Hezbollah of Lebanon, which is a Shiite Muslim, remains the most powerful political party and militant group in the country. As a proxy group for Iran, it is blamed by many Lebanese and foreign governments for the sectarian tensions and for bringing violence into Lebanon.

The small Mediterranean country of 6 million has been gripped by a crisis and rising poverty since the end of 2019 due to financial collapse, economic mismanagement and government corruption. Its contentious sectarian leaders have failed to form a government, leaving the country without effective leadership since its last prime minister stepped down following a deadly blast in August 2020, tore through the capital Beirut and killed hundreds and displaced thousands of people.

Many Lebanese say the scale of the current crisis, which is losing almost all of its value, is far worse than Lebanon’s bloody 1975-1990 civil war and that the coronavirus pandemic, which has overwhelmed its healthcare system, is the least of their concerns.

While opponents of Hezbollah often describe the country as hostage by the group, they also acknowledge that the confrontation with the heavily armed organization, which also controls Beirut’s port and airport, could lead to a return to arms and a renewed civil war.

And Hezbollah, whose loyalty to Tehran is rather than the Lebanese constitution, does represent a large part of the Shiite community in Lebanon.

“I have not yet heard directly from Hezbollah whether he is against or with neutrality,” the patriarch said. “If he says’ I am against it ‘, I ask him,’ Are you against the sovereignty of Lebanon, do you not want Lebanon to be a sovereign state on its territory? If that’s true, you do not want neutrality “You do not want Lebanon to fulfill its role.”

“Lebanon used to be (the) Switzerland of the Middle East – today it is hell, as the president once said,” Al-Rahi said. “It’s not something we can be proud of. That’s why we are very sorry.”

The Patriarch spoke of a “mutual defense strategy” proposed by previous presidents, but which never materialized; something that would empower united foreign policy actions by the Lebanese state rather than sectarian groups.

“Hezbollah should not remain free to use weapons whenever and wherever it wants,” he said. “And should not be able to decide wars in Israel, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, with contempt for the government, the president and parliament. The idea of ​​the strategy for mutual defense has therefore been raised, but it has not been realized. not. ”

“Hezbollah, like the army or any other army in the world, is not entitled to make a decision or to decide to go to war or peace, but it is the state that decides,” he added.

“But the issue of Hezbollah and the weapons is much bigger than Lebanon and needs to be addressed internationally.”

The Patriarch added that he had met with the group once before, but “we discussed issues that have nothing to do with weapons, because that is something we do not go beyond.”

When regional powers are at war, Lebanon falls on the cross. It takes place in 2005, when then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a conspiracy that was believed to be the work of Hezbollah and the Syrian government.

Lebanon has long been the foundation on which larger powers’ proxy struggle for local influence plays out. It is home to 18 different religious communities thanks to arbitrary demarcation by French generals, who founded the state in 1926.

Its unique consensus government, adapted to deal with a diverse population, is based on a power-sharing structure through which the Prime Minister, President and Speaker of the House must come from the three largest religious groups in the country: Sunnis, Maronite Christians and Shia’s. Regional powers therefore often exert influence in the country through these different groups.

The Patriarch described Lebanon as asking the US “not to make Lebanon a negotiating map between the US and Iran when they want to resolve the nuclear issue,” referring to Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

“The arms issue must also be addressed with Iran because Iran is the source,” he added, calling Iran direct. “And it is well known that Hezbollah is an Iranian military force in Lebanon to fight Israel. Why should they fight Israel from Lebanon, if you want to fight Israel, why do you want to use the Lebanese territory?”

Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006 in a 34-day-long conflict in which Israeli troops launched an offensive against Lebanon in response to Hezbollah rocket attacks and the killing of Israeli soldiers. There were back and forth strikes and assassinations in the years that followed.

“We want an international conference, and we also want the Security Council to take decisions on the issue of arms and the militias that exist in Lebanon, and around the issue of Lebanon extending its sovereignty over the entire Lebanese territory., ” Al-Rahi said. His call for a UN-sponsored international conference was cut short by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who had earlier argued that it would allow foreign interference.

The issue of Lebanon’s sovereignty over its entire territory, which has been raised in previous UN resolutions, must be addressed at a multilateral level, the Patriarch stressed – “not at the internal Lebanese level.”