Suleiman on Civil Marriage: Failure to Tackle a Draft Law at Parliament Violates Taef

President Michel Suleiman stated on Tuesday that officials cannot “turn a blind eye” to couples getting married through civil marriage ceremonies, noting that a draft law on such unions had been devised in the past.

He said during a cabinet session at the Baabda Palace: “Failure to tackle draft laws at constitutional institutions is a violation of the Taef Accord.”

He remarked that a draft law on civil marriage was devised in the 1950s and later during the tenure of late President Elias al-Hrawi in the 1990s.

Moreover, Suleiman noted how young couples have resorted to traveling abroad to get married through civil marriage ceremonies.

“This issue should be thoroughly addressed in a manner that does not offend any side,” the president added.

He also requested that Interior Minister Marwan Charbel verify the legality of the union of Kholoud Sukkariyah and Nidal Darwish, who defied the ban on such forms of marriages in Lebanon by getting married in a civil ceremony late last year.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Najib Miqati said during the cabinet session: “Civil marriage is a sensitive issue that has sparked conflicting positions and we do not need a new contentious issue in Lebanon.”

Suleiman recently advocated Sukkariyah and Darwish's union, saying it would build unity in Lebanon.

Miqati had however voiced his rejection of civil unions, saying: “It is futile to research the issue of civil marriage. As long as I am president of the government, I will not raise this subject in the council of ministers."

Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Qabbani joined the debate on Monday by issuing a fatwa against moves to legalize civil marriages in Lebanon, branding as an apostate any Muslim politician who approves civil marriage legislation.

"Any Muslim with legal or executive authority in Lebanon who supports the legalization of civil marriage is an apostate and outside the religion of Islam," he said on the website of Dar al-Fatwa.

Lebanese authorities recognize civil marriages registered abroad, and it has become common for mixed-faith couples to marry in nearby Cyprus.

Information Minister Walid al-Daouq said following the cabinet session that the authorities of the ministerial committee that follows up the issue of kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims in Syria were expanded to discuss with French authorities the case of leftist militant Georges Abdallah.

Abdallah was jailed in France for life in 1987 after being convicted in the 1982 murders of military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.

However, a French court last year granted him parole, provided he was deported back to his home country. The court then postponed a final decision, drawing ire from Lebanon.