BEIRUT, Mar. 26, 01 (CWNews.com) - Muslim leaders in Lebanon have warned Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir to tone down his criticism of Syria's presence in the country.
The Northern Lebanon Muslim Sheikhs warned Cardinal Sfeir on Sunday that he should stop demanding Syrian soldiers withdraw from Lebanon. Sheikh Rifai Hammoud told worshippers in Koueikhat mosque near Akkar in northern Lebanon that the Lebanese government and moderate Christian members of parliament should curb the patriarch's ongoing anti-Syria campaign. "There should be some reply to the Maronite priest and the lack of reply would lead to disturbing Christians in Akkar," he said. "I want you (security bodies) to carry this message to the officials."
Syria has had about 35,000 soldiers in Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war, and has treated the country as a fiefdom. Cardinal Sfeir has said the ongoing Syrian influence on Lebanon and its government is a detriment to independence.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
26. mars 2001