Fares Soueid, Coordinator of the March 14 General Secretariat told LBC on Thursday that Christians have no interest in giving the impression that they support the Syrian regime.
“Christians have no interest in giving the Syrian people the impression that they support or justify what the Syrian regime is doing,” he said , adding that Christians have no interest in “welcoming the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon who is on the United States’ blacklist.”
“We have no interest in giving any Christian cover for non-state weapons because their existence threatens ours Christians.” In reference to Hezbollah arms.
Rai came under fire earlier this month from the opposition March 14 parties but won praise from March 8 politicians for indirectly defending Hezbollah’s arms and linking the party’s arsenal to the termination of Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory and the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland . Even MP Walid Jumblatt who defected from March 14 alliance was very critical of Rai’s statements.
Rai emphasized during a trip to Paris that “only when the international community exerts pressure on Israel to vacate the occupied Lebanese territory ( the Shebaa Farms, Kfar Shouba hills and the Lebanese part of the disputed border village of Ghajar ) and Israel allows Palestinians in Lebanon to return to their homes, can Hezbollah be asked to hand over its arms because they will no longer be needed.”
Rai added that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is “open-minded” and should be given more chances to implement the reforms he already announced.
The patriarch claimed after returning to Lebanon that the remarks he made while in Paris “were taken out of context and have nothing to do” with his personal opinion.
Assad’s regime has cracked down on a string of unprecedented protests across his country, killing more than 2,700 civilian protesters since the uprising began in March, according to the United Nations.
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