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Paula Ostieh writes in Asharq Al-Awsat:
The Maronite Patriarchate, which recently became active in its call for “the neutrality of Lebanon” and illegal disarmament, remains active in the line of reconciliation between Christian parties, with an expected invitation to an extended meeting at its headquarters in Bkerke. .
Not all the formulas recently proposed by the Patriarchate to reconcile the “Free Patriotic Movement” and “the Lebanese Forces”, after the great confusion between them a few weeks ago in the Mirna Chalouhi area in Beirut, be it the bilateral meeting between the two directions or the proposal of an extended Maronite encounter.
It seems that Bkerke is promoting a “national meeting” to resolve the current crisis without linking it to his recent call to declare the “neutrality of Lebanon”, knowing that this principle does not find local consensus, especially after Hezbollah came out to correct it. . Patriarchal Attorney General Archbishop Samir Mazloum says “opinions were gathered on an invitation to meet in Bkerke, the nature of which was not determined and the people invited to it.” However, the head of the “forces”, Samir Geagea, “did not answer him.”
Mazloum added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “The Patriarchate hopes and seeks to unite the Lebanese and unify the word so that they share solving problems and overcoming tragedies, but the atmosphere is not always helpful and requires the formation of new convictions among the functionaries”. However, he emphasized that “efforts continue and the call is still in force, although there are no specific dates,” considering that any meeting “does not mean bringing together all national forces at the same time, but that lots can be obtained,” explaining that the meetings in which they work “It has nothing to do with the neutrality advocated by Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai, but with the reconciliation of the Lebanese and bringing together points of view and ideas to solve the current crisis, taking into account that when this is achieve we will also be close to achieving neutrality.
According to a prominent source from the “Lebanese Forces”, Bkerke expressed his desire to hold a bilateral meeting in the first stage between the leadership of the “forces” and the “movement”, provided that it was expanded in a second stage to include the Maronite representatives, but “the answer was not to seek any benefit or viability of the two formulas”, for two main reasons; The first is that the nature of the current Lebanese crisis is financial. There is no point in meeting with a Christian to face a crisis that affects all Lebanese without exception. The second reason is that the neutrality initiative launched by the Patriarch and fully supported by him has a national incubator, so it will not be feasible to reduce it to a Christian framework ”.
The source confirmed to Al-Sharq al-Awsat that “there are no tensions with the Free Patriotic Movement, considering that what happened in Mirna al-Shalouhi is a secondary accident that has been left behind.” He highlighted, “The existence of a very close, exceptional and transparent relationship with the Patriarch, so we are in constant and continuous contact with him. However, we do not see at the current stage that the priority is to meet a Christian before the great national crisis that demands concerted efforts and the formation of a government independent of the political forces, followed by early parliamentary elections. ” .
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