Eddé Says Aoun Exploited The Church For His And Syria’s Benefit
In a statement issued on Tuesday, National Bloc Party leader Carlos Eddé said that that current conflict in Lebanon surpassed the issue of Christian parties’ relations with each other and with the Church, and was really about Lebanon’s sovereignty and the danger of a Syrian return to the country.
Eddé said that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s controversial visit to Syria, which ended on Monday, was full of “theatrics and festivities” from which Aoun and the Syrian regime gained. “It seems that General Aoun gained from this visit and the previous one to Iran,” Eddé said, referring to Aoun’s trip to Tehran last month, adding that Aoun learned how to exploit the Church to serve Iranian and Syrian interests in preserving the institution’s formal role but denying its freedom of functioning.
Eddé said that the Maronite Church had a historical tie with the establishment of Lebanon, and that it helped inspire the Cedar Revolution in which the Syrian military and intelligence apparatus was kicked out of Lebanon in 2005 after a 30-year presence. Eddé said that if it were true that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave Aoun a message to deliver it to the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki, as was rumored, “We hope Bkirki does not open its doors to the messenger.”
Eddé said that the Maronite Church was a symbol of freedom, and that it would not allow Syria to use religious symbols to serve its policies through a “new ally,” a reference to Aoun. Eddé said that all Lebanese political leaders, the Maronite in particular, should call on the Patriarch to defend Lebanon, its democracy and its Church, and to preserve the blood of those who died for the country.