Cardinal Sfeir: full sovereignty for Beirut, but demonstrations are worrisome
The Patriarch leaves today for the US, while yesterday Syria announced plans to pullout by April and while opposition groups count on leading a million demonstrators.
Beirut (AsiaNews) Full sovereignty for Lebanon, friendship and normal diplomatic relations with Syria, as long as it does not interfere in internal questions in Lebanon, concerns for demonstrations, an appeal to Hezbollah to cooperate in the country's rebirth, in the certainty that even "the Party of God" wants the good of the nation. These are the main issues addressed by the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, speaking with journalists prior to his departure today, at 1 p.m. for the United States, where he will be attending a series of meetings and where he will be received, on March 16, by President Bush from whom, the Patriarch stressed, the invitation for a meeting originated.
After launching an appeal during Mass yesterday in which he called for peace and consensus, Patriarch Sfeir's departure today takes place 30 days from the assassination of Lebanon's former premier, Rafik Hariri, and on a day when oppositionists are announcing another demonstration in which they hope to marshal one million followers, while again yesterday pro-Syrian movements gathered at least 100,000 thousand people at Nabtiyeh. All this a day after Damascus announced, following a meeting between Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and U.N. envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, that Syrian troops will withdraw completely from Lebanon before the end of next April and, therefore, before forthcoming elections. Roed-Larsen said, for his part, that an exact timetable for withdrawal has been established but refused to disclose details before debriefing U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan this week in New York. However, in Damascus, official news sources, in reporting on demonstrations organized by Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian groups, stressed messages which emerged such as "Syria and Lebanon: one people", "No to foreign interference". Replying to a question by AsiaNews on Hezbollah's position, Patriarch Sfeir, showing little enthusiasm for the demonstrations "as they are distressing and an end should be put to this situation", said that the group is made up of young Lebanese who want to defend their country. He recalled that they had been successful in putting an end to Israel's invasion in southern Lebanon and that their opinions must be respected. "We will ultimately reach a peaceful solution", he said, and there is no need to be afraid of Hezbollah, "because they are Lebanese just as we are." The Patriarch then reiterated the importance of joining forces to put an end to the crisis which broke out following Hariri's assassination and urged everyone to "follow the voice of wisdom" so that the country's prosperity could be ensured, threatened as it also by economic troubles.
Meanwhile, the pullout and redeployment of Syrian troops continues. According to a high-ranking Lebanese military official, 4,000 Syrian soldiers have left the country by now and as many have redeployed to the Bekaa valley. If Syria effectively maintains its word, by the end of this month, 5,000 troops will have left Lebanon, along with an equal number of intelligence personnel.
Lebanon and Syria, according to the Maronite Patriarch, need each other, "and we want to maintain a strong tie of friendship with Syrians, on the condition that they do not interfere with our internal questions, as we are responsible for our own future." Cardinal Sfeir expressed the hope that Samir Geagea, head of Lebanese forces and Lebanon's "only political prisoner," be freed, and did not appear to be worried for what might arise after the pullout of Syrian forces "because the Lebanese are capable of finding the way for a secure peace". Patriarch Sfeir sent a brotherly message to the Syrian government, saying: we want to remain friends, we want to be responsible for our own destiny, we want Syria to stay in Syria and Lebanon in Lebanon, we want diplomatic relations like those of any other country, given that, up until now, there have not been any between Damascus and Beirut.
Asked about topics on the agenda for meetings with American officials, Patriarch Sfeir said, "The Holy Spirit will be the one to enlighten me at that moment". Patriarch Sfeir's schedule in the United States, three years from his first visit there, will be particularly intense: he will meet with the American episcopacy, and in particular with Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, and with two Maronite bishops in the United States, Bob Chahine and Gregori Mansour. On Palm Sunday, he will preside over Mass in New York, before returning to Beirut next Monday. (JH)
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27/04/2005
