Report: Geagea Mulling to Boycott Christian Leaders Meeting in Bkirki
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Phalange party chief Amin Gemayel are mulling to suspend their participation in a meeting of top Maronite political leaders scheduled to be held in Bkirki later this month.
LF sources told An Nahar daily published Tuesday that the party’s leadership is considering Geagea’s boycott of the meeting on Sept. 23 over Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s latest remarks on Hizbullah and the Syrian crisis.
During his visit to Paris and in an interview with al-Arabiya satellite TV network last week, al-Rahi said the fate of Hizbullah’s arms is linked to the termination of Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory and the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland.
Al-Rahi also warned that the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria was a threat to Christians. He said Syrian President Bashar Assad should be given the chance to introduce reform.
Al-Liwaa daily said that Gemayel was also considering suspending his participation in the Sept. 23 meeting.
But MP Elie Marouni denied to Voice of Lebanon radio station (100.5) that the Phalange will boycott the meeting. He also stressed to Radio Orient that the issues on the agenda of the inter-Maronite talks are totally different from the “surprising remarks” of al-Rahi.
On Monday, Gemayel lashed out at Hizbullah’s arms, saying they are sectarian weapons that threaten Lebanon’s stability.
In response to al-Rahi’s statement on Syria, he stressed the Phalange would support demands for freedom and democracy in the Arab world.
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