Jumblat: Al-Rahi's Visit Was a Success on All Levels
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hoped on Tuesday that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's visit to Mount Lebanon over the weekend would “pave the way to further cooperation and coordination in matters that benefit the region and all of its residents.”
He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “Al-Rahi's visit was a success on all levels.”
Al-Rahi and Jumblat agreed on Sunday to exert efforts to complete the reconciliation in the Mountains that the former head of the church started in 2001.
On Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit to Lebanon, the MP remarked: “We hope that the trip would emphasize the values of dialogue, openness, diversity, and mutual coexistence in Lebanon and the Middle East.”
Addressing critics of the patriarch's visit to the Shouf region, Jumblat said: “We will not stoop so low as to comment on silly remarks that are only aimed at creating tensions and eliminating the positive results of al-Rahi's visit.”
The Pope is set to arrive in Lebanon on Friday on a three-day visit.
Commenting on the release of three officers linked to the death of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed and his companion in May, the PSP leader questioned the timing of the release.
“The decision may be the beginning of a series of other ones aimed at avoiding very critical issues that may eventually lead to the release of former minister Michel Samaha,” warned Jumblat.
Samaha was arrested in August on charges of forming a criminal gang in Lebanon aimed at carrying out attacks in Lebanon at Syria's behest.
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