Charbel: 3 Held in Orthodox Archbishopric Robbery, No Political Motivations

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Monday announced the arrest of three people in connection with Wednesday’s ransacking of the Greek Orthodox Archbishopric in Beirut’s Ashrafieh district.

The incident “has no political or sectarian motivations and it was only aimed at theft,” Charbel told OTV.

“This is what we have until now and things will be clarified tomorrow. We have three people in custody and the investigation has not ended yet,” he added.

Bishops and employees were surprised on Wednesday morning to see that thieves had broken in and stolen chalices, icons, money, documents and the Archbishop’s crosier, state-run National News Agency reported.

The thieves also scattered papers and documents on the floor, NNA said.

In the wake of the incident, Premier Najib Miqati telephoned Archbishop Elias Awdeh to condemn the incident and asked Charbel to visit Awdeh.

Miqati also urged Charbel to task the specialized security agencies with intensifying their efforts to arrest the culprits and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities.