Inked communiqué at religious summit stained by Discord

The Daily Star
13/5/2011

BEIRUT: Differences surfaced Thursday among Lebanon’s top religious leaders at a Christian-Muslim summit, before the ink of their communiqué aimed at promoting dialogue among Lebanese factions had time to dry.

Lebanon’s 34 top religious authorities gathered at the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki to urge political leaders to promptly form a Cabinet and resolve deeply divisive issues through dialogue, but appeared to leave the meeting divided.

The divisions became evident to the media shortly after the summit’s conclusion, when Higher Islamic Shiite Council head Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan issued a statement expressing his objections to articles 6 and 7 of the gathering’s final communiqué.
The communiqué, which was released when participants were still at Bkirki, highlighted the importance of strengthening national unity at a time when the region is falling into turmoil, threatening Lebanon’s stability.

“The participants … warned against internal divisions, which weaken Lebanon’s … ability to confront developments in the Arab world, which could take place at the expense of the country’s security, stability and peace,” the communiqué’s first article said.

The participants dodged debate over disputed issues, including the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and Hezbollah’s weapons, in articles 4 and 5, but the following two articles did not highlight the resistance’s right to fight alongside the state to liberate occupied territories, drawing objections from Qabalan.

Article 6 emphasized the “state’s right to liberate territories occupied by Israel,” which led Qabalan to demand that “Lebanon” replace the “state,” in the wording of the article.

The statement released by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council quoted Qabalan as saying that the final communiqué was altered and didn’t confirm to the initial communiqué agree upon before the summit by religious leaders.

“The Islamic Higher Shiite Council suggested that the [communiqué] emphasize ‘Lebanon’s right to liberate its territories’ so that the article would also include the rights of the people, army and resistance, since the state is incapable of defending itself,” the statement said.

Articles 4 and 5, neither of which explicitly mentioned the STL or Hezbollah’s weapons, stressed the importance of upholding justice generally and restricting the task of preserving security and stability to state security forces.

“Justice is an absolute value and is an aspect of God that no society can exist and prosper without,” article 4 of the communiqué said.

“[The summit] emphasizes the need to rely on constitutional institutions alone to resolve disputes and to rely on the Lebanese Army and legitimate security forces to preserve stability, security and fight terrorism and organized crime,” article 5 said.

The summit convened by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai at the suggestion last month of Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, included Druze Sheikh Naim Hassan, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi, Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I Keshishian, Roman Catholic Antioch Patriarch Gregorios III Laham and Roman Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV, among others.

Representingthe Alawite community, Assad Assi took part in the gathering, marking the first time the community has participated in a high-profile spiritual summit.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on May 13, 2011, on page 1.

Source: