Sfeir Criticizes Calls for Election of President by People

 

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir voiced regret Tuesday over the fact that some Lebanese were trying to adopt a foreign solution to draw Lebanon out of the ongoing crisis, calling on the country”s officials to try to find a “local” one.

 

“We have to settle our discords by ourselves but if we cannot do so … we might resort to internationalization since solutions have not been reached so far,” Sfeir said before a delegation from the Press Federation.

 

“We favor a Lebanese solution first, an Arab one second and an international one third,” he added.

 

Sfeir said the obstacle that had prevented the Christians in Lebanon from improving their condition was the Syrian presence on Lebanese land, “but at present the obstacle resides inside Lebanon rather than outside it.”

 

“When we say inside Lebanon it does not mean that the outside has nothing to do with it,” he said. “The Syrian presence was military but now it has become political. We all know that there might be a collusion between some Lebanese and the outside.”

 

Commenting on Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun”s call for electing a president by the Lebanese people, Sfeir said: “I do not know if the people who cannot elect their MPs can elect their president.”

 

The prelate rejected claims that he “leans toward” the loyalists and warned against attacking civil peace.

 

“Everything is possible. All the Lebanese are responsible for the failure of Arab attempts to resolve the current crisis,” he said. “They have to look to their consciences to put an end to their problems and bury the sleeping strife which should not be woken up.”