Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir voiced hope on Tuesday that the upcoming Lebanese-Syrian summit, which is expected to be held in the next few days, would turn over a new leaf between Lebanon and Syria. "We hope that Lebanon maintains friendly relationships with all countries, particularly with neighboring ones, on condition that such relations will be mutual," Sfeir said upon arriving at the Rafik Hariri Airport from Australia.
"Lebanon should not seek friendship, alone, but rather others should look for it too."
Sfeir returned to Lebanon after an almost three-week visit to Australia, where he met with Pope Benedict XVI and Lebanese emigrants, and participated in World Youth Day.
Among those who received Sfeir at the airport were Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, representing President Michel Sleiman, and a number of religious, political and security figures.
Sfeir said he wished the new government luck in running the country”s affairs.
"We have waited for this government for a long time," the patriarch said.
Asked about the meetings being held by the committee charged with drafting the ministerial statement, Sfeir said: "We look forward to having a statement that will meet the aspirations of all the Lebanese."
"But since it is the fifth time that the committee has met, the birth of the statement will be difficult," he added.
About the upcoming elections, the prelate called for "free and just elections that express the Lebanese people”s wishes."
Also on Tuesday, Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said the ministerial statement should include guarantees that the state is the only one to possess weapons.
"It is time for Lebanon to return to being a sovereign country where the security of people is in the hands of the state," Qabbani said in an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa.
Qabbani said he had strong hopes that Lebanon will liberate the Shebaa Farms and bring them back under Lebanese sovereignty. Israel currently occupies the area.
"The Lebanese should be wary of the danger of sectarianism because falling in its mud means the end of everyone and not just a certain party," he said.