Bkirki Sources Deny al-Rahi Summit Initiative

Bkirki sources have denied that Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi would invite Maronite leaders for a summit to resolve Lebanon's growing political crisis.

The sources told An Nahar daily published on Wednesday that al-Rahi would call for a summit only if there is a high probability that the politicians would reach an agreement.

They said al-Rahi hopes that efforts exerted to agree on the election of a new president would succeed.

Their remarks came a day after al-Joumhouria newspaper expected the patriarch to ask Maronite leaders to agree on the election of a president during a summit in Bkirki.

Al-Rahi will seek to urge them to assume their patriotic responsibilities because he believes that the political crisis is the result of the vacuum in the country's top Christian post, said the report.

The country has been without a president for more than a year, despite nearly 30 attempts by parliament to pick a new one.

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