Al-Rahi Urges Armed Groups to Disarm: State Cannot Be Built in Presence of Illegal Weapons

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi noted on Friday that the state cannot be constructed in light of the presence of illegitimate weapons.

He urged to al-Masira magazine “armed groups to disarm in favor of the official military and security forces because the moment of truth has arrived.”

Addressing regional developments, he said: “The Sunni-Shiite conflict is spreading to Lebanon and it will be linked to both Saudi Arabia and Iran.”

“Christians must act as the common link between the two sides in order for them assert the national pact,” al-Rahi remarked.

“Lebanon can only be saved by the Christians who transformed it into the Switzerland of the Middle East,” he stated.

On Thursday, two rockets were fired in the Baabda area with one landing in the garden of the Freiha villa that is located near the Officers' Club.

The second rocket landed near the Khashoqji castle in al-Yarzeh.

No one was injured in the incident.

The attack came on the same day that President Michel Suleiman gave a speech on the occasion of Army Day in which he criticized Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war in support of President Bashar Assad's forces.