BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said Sunday that justice should be served despite potential repercussions of an impending indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“It has become well-known that there is a party that intends to abolish the international tribunal, but this tribunal shall take its course and be effective if there is a will to put an end to the assassinations that Lebanon has seen,” he told Voice of Lebanon radio.
“It should achieve justice so that every criminal is punished, or else, assassinations and anxiety will go on and Lebanese will continue to leave their country,” added the prelate.
Hizbullah has dismissed the STL as an “Israeli project” aimed at fomenting civil strife in Lebanon and called for a nationwide boycott.
Last week, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed not to allow the arrest of any of the party’s fighters following the issuance of the indictment, which Hizbullah stressed earlier would name some of its members.
“Maybe the [indictment] will lead to some repercussions but justice is justice and it should be served,” said Sfeir.
Asked whether he feared civil strife similar to that of May 2008, the patriarch said “of course, if the indictment named some people, they will not accept it and protest against it, but this does not prevent justice from being justice,” he said.
Pro-Hizbullah gunmen overran swaths of Beirut May 7, 2008, after then Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s Cabinet moved to dismantle the party’s telecommunications network. Nasrallah said Hizbullah would decide with its allies how to react on the indictment.
“The government should assume control [on all Lebanese territories], but if every group wants to stretch its authority on an area in Lebanon, or over all Lebanon, this contradicts with conventions people are familiar with, anyway, the choice is left for the government and his excellency the president [Michel Sleiman],” said Sfeir.
“The government should assume control [on all Lebanese territories], but if every group wants to stretch its authority on an area in Lebanon, or over all Lebanon, this contradicts with conventions people are familiar with, anyway, the choice is left for the government and his excellency the president [Michel Sleiman],” said Sfeir.
He said there should be balance between numbers of Christians and Muslims in Lebanon if parity between the two is to continue.
“But if tripartite [distribution of prerogatives between Shiites, Sunnis and Christians] was raised, then maybe a quadripartite formula will be advocated later and Christians will disappear [from Lebanon], but such a matter has to do with them [Christians] and their partners in the nation,” he said.
Following Lebanon’s bloody Civil War, the number of Christians has dwindled to reach around 35 percent of the overall population.
“They [Christians] have to stay in the country so that they have a share in posts,” continued Sfeir. He thanked Prime Minister Saad Hariri for his commitment to parity, but voiced fear that some parties might call for treating Christians in Lebanon based on their numbers if they saw a sharp decrease.
Also Sunday, Sfeir delivered a sermon after leading prayers at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki following which he received a number of figures. –The Daily Star
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