Al-Rahi Contacts Saniora as Maronite Church Praises Mustaqbal Political Document

The Maronite Church has expressed its satisfaction with the Mustaqbal Movement’s political document on the Arab Spring, saying that it sets the foundation for ties between various Lebanese sects, reported the Central News Agency on Friday.

This development was marked by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi contacting Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Fouad Saniora to discuss the document.

It was stressed that the document, entitled “The Future Movement and the Perspectives of the Arab Spring”, should be distributed to the various political factions in Lebanon, said the news agency.

It revealed that the advisor of former Premier Saad Hariri, Daoud al-Sayegh, had visited al-Rahi on Thursday ahead of the latter’s visit to Jordan.

During the meeting, the patriarch expressed admiration to the proposals made in the document and the long-term vision of what inter-Lebanese relations should entail, reported the Central News Agency.

Sources from the Maronite Church told the news agency that the document “is worth studying deeply”, given its “openness in tackling national and sectarian causes.”

Launched on Wednesday, the Mustaqbal political document noted that alliances and projects that are based on minorities can only be short-lived in Lebanon.

Such alliances do not reflect ties between Muslims and Christians, who don’t view themselves as minorities and whom Muslims don’t view as minorities either.

Both sides share the same fate, stressed the document, which also emphasized the importance of the Taef Accord.