BEIRUT (CWNews.com) - Christians in southern Lebanon have said they are fearful following the withdrawal of Israel from its self-imposed security zone in the area as well as the Christian militias that had been Israel's allies.
The Syrian-backed Hizbollah Muslim paramilitary group tried to reassure Christians they had nothing to fear from the change from control by Israel and the Christian militias to control by Hizbollah. In the mainly Christian village of Qlaiaa, Hizbollah's deputy chief, Sheikh Naeem Qassem, and Hizbollah member of Lebanon's parliament Mohammad Raed met Maronite Father Mansour al-Hkayim who had earlier called off Sunday Mass at his St. George Church. "He who attacks the residents of Qlaiaa, attacks Hizbollah and he who violates the people of the south, violates the resistance," Raed told a crowd outside the church.
Raed then publicly criticized Father Hkayim, calling the decision to call of Mass irresponsible. After a closed door meeting, Father Hkayim said the Mass would be celebrated. Earlier, Father Hkayim had said he cancelled the Mass because of a lack of security for parishioners coming to church. "There are so many violations going on that I can't ask people to leave their homes empty," he said.
Qlaiaa and a cluster of Christian villages are in an area taken over by Hizbollah and other Moslem and leftist guerrillas in the wake of Israel's withdrawal and the collapse of its Christian-led South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia. While there have no direct, organized attacks on Christians as some feared, residents remained fearful because the region was the center of support for the Christian South Lebanon Army (SLA).
"We are here praying because we are scared. During the night gunmen come to our homes and take things away, in the morning they act as if nothing happened," a sobbing old woman at the church told Reuters news agency.
The Lebanese government said over the weekend they were waiting for official UN verification that Israel had completely withdrawn to the international border before deciding on whether to send army troops to the south to aid UN peacekeepers.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs