Al-Rahi Skips Washington as he Kicks off his U.S. Tour on Oct. 4
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will skip Washington in his U.S. tour after he was informed that “the time was not appropriate to arrange a meeting with the U.S. president,” informed sources told An Nahar daily on Tuesday.
Al-Rahi will begin his pastoral trip on Oct. 4. His first stop will be the city of Saint Louis in Missouri. The patriarch’s visit until Oct. 23 will include stops in Maronite parishes in the states of Illinois, Ohio, Texas, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and others.
On Oct. 21, he is scheduled to hold talks with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.
The patriarch was at first scheduled to arrive in Washington on Oct. 1 but later changed the date after he was informed about the “inappropriate timing to arrange a meeting” between him and President Barack Obama, the informed Lebanese and U.S. sources told An Nahar.
Official U.S. sources confirmed to the newspaper that al-Rahi’s latest statements on Hizbullah’s arms and the situation in Syria have angered Washington.
The last meeting held between him and U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly was “honest and friendly,” they stressed after reports said that al-Rahi informed the diplomat that he was holding onto his stances.
His statements have sparked controversy. Al-Rahi has linked the fate of Hizbullah’s weapons to the liberation of the remaining occupied Lebanese territories and has called for giving Syrian President Bashar Assad the chance to introduce reform for fears that the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power would harm Christians in the region.
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