Lebanese patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi wants Hezbollah talks

Lebanon’s highest-ranking Christian clergyman, Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, called for a meeting with the Iranian-backed political and paramilitary group Hezbollah, while pushing for neutrality in regional conflicts to save the besieged Middle East country from further chaos.

“I maintain that Hezbollah has not taken a sincere and clear position on neutrality,” Al-Rahi told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Beirut. “And I’m waiting and calling them to a meeting here where we talk about neutrality and all its aspects, because neutrality is in the interest of all Lebanese and Hezbollah first. Because they are Lebanese too. Everyone’s interest.”

Lebanese Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim, remains the most powerful political party and militant group in the country. It acts as a proxy group for Iran and has been accused by many Lebanese and foreign governments of fueling sectarian tensions and instilling violence in Lebanon.

The small Mediterranean country of 6 million inhabitants has been gripped by a spiral crisis and rising poverty due to financial collapse, economic mismanagement and government corruption since late 2019. The warring sectarian leaders have failed to form a government, leaving the country without effective leadership since the last prime minister stepped down after a deadly explosion in August 2020 that ripped through the capital, Beirut, killing hundreds and displacing thousands.

Many Lebanese say that the magnitude of the current crisis, which has caused the country’s currency to lose practically all of its value, is far worse than Lebanon’s bloody civil war of 1975-1990 and that the coronavirus pandemic, which has overwhelmed its health care system, is the least of their concerns.

While opponents of Hezbollah often describe the country as being held hostage by the group, they also recognize that confronting the heavily armed organization, which also controls Beirut’s port and airport, could result in a return to arms and a renewed civil war.

And Hezbollah, whose allegiance is to Tehran rather than the Lebanese constitution, represents a large portion of Lebanon’s Shia community.

“I have not yet heard directly from Hezbollah whether he is against or neutral,” the patriarch said. “When he says, ‘I am against’, then I ask him: are you against the sovereignty of Lebanon, don’t you want Lebanon to be a sovereign state in its territory? If it’s true, you don’t want neutrality, you want that. not “I want Lebanon to fulfill its role.”

“Lebanon was (the) Switzerland of the Middle East – today is hell, as the president once said,” Al-Rahi said. “This is not something we can be proud of. That’s why we regret it.”

The patriarch spoke of a “mutual defense strategy” proposed by previous presidents but never materialized; something that would have resulted in unified foreign policy actions by the Lebanese state rather than sectarian groups.

“Hezbollah should not remain free to use weapons whenever and wherever it wants,” he said. And should not be able to decide wars in Israel, in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, with disdain for the government, the president and parliament. So the idea of ​​the mutual defense strategy came up, but it became not realized. . ”

“Hezbollah, like the military or any other military in the world, has no right to make a decision or to start war or peace, it is the state that decides,” he added.

“But the Hezbollah and weapons case is much bigger than Lebanon’s and needs to be tackled internationally.”

The patriarch added that he had met the group before, but “we discussed issues unrelated to guns because this is something beyond us.”

When regional powers disagree, Lebanon comes into their sights. This took place in 2005, when then Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a plot believed to be the work of Hezbollah and the Syrian government.

Lebanon has long been the site of the proxy struggles of greater powers for regional influence. It is home to 18 different religious communities thanks to the arbitrary drawing of borders by French generals, who founded the state in 1926.

The unique consensus government, geared to dealing with a diverse population, rests on a power-sharing structure where the prime minister, president and speaker of parliament must come from the country’s three largest religious groups: Sunnis, Maronite Christians and Shias. Regional powers therefore often exert influence in the country through these different groups.

The patriarch described Lebanon as a request to the US “not to make Lebanon a negotiating card between the US and Iran if they want to resolve the nuclear issue,” referring to Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

“The arms issue must also be addressed with Iran, because Iran is the source,” he added, calling out Iran directly. “And it is well known that Hezbollah (is) an Iranian military force in Lebanon to fight Israel. Why would they fight Israel from Lebanon, if you want to fight Israel, why would you want to use the Lebanese territory?”

Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006 in a 34-day conflict in which Israeli forces launched an offensive against Lebanon in response to Hezbollah rocket attacks and the murder of Israeli soldiers. There have been back and forth strikes and murders in the years since.

“We want an international conference and we also want the Security Council to pass resolutions on the arms issue and the militias that exist in Lebanon. And on the issue of Lebanon extending its sovereignty over the entire Lebanese territory. Al-Rahi said. His call for a UN-sponsored international conference has been rejected by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who previously claimed it would allow foreign interference.

The issue of Lebanon’s sovereignty over its entire territory, raised in previous resolutions at the UN, should be addressed at the multilateral level, the patriarch stressed – “not at the internal Lebanese level”.