CNS STORY: Syria's withdrawal will ease divisions, Lebanese cardinal says

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US-SFEIR (UPDATED) Mar-17-2005 (1,020 words) With photos posted March 15, 16 and 17. xxxn

Syria's withdrawal will ease divisions, Lebanese cardinal says

By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Syrian troops' departure from Lebanon will remove the major reason for the Lebanese people to be divided, said Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, Maronite Catholic patriarch.

As international pressure forced Syria to begin withdrawing from Lebanon, Cardinal Sfeir told Catholic News Service that divisions among the Lebanese people seen in recent rival protest marches were a factor of the Syrian occupation.

"If Syria will withdraw from Lebanon there is no reason to be divided. It's not that the Lebanese are divided, but someone has divided them," he said in a Washington interview March 15.

The same day, the cardinal met Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington. The next day he met with President Bush; the cardinal said he raised general concerns about the Middle East and sought U.S. support in making Lebanon "a free country, sovereign and independent."

At a press conference March 17, Cardinal Sfeir said Bush promised support for an independent Lebanon with free elections. He also said the United States would coordinate with other countries through the United Nations to bring about a smooth transition to independence.

The cardinal also was scheduled to speak to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York later in the weeklong U.S. visit, organized at Bush's invitation.

Syrian troops entered Lebanon as a peacekeeping force in 1976 during the country's civil war. The 1989 Taif Accord officially ended the war and called for Syrian forces to withdraw within two years, but by early March an estimated 15,000 Syrian troops remained.

International pressure on Syria to withdraw its troops increased after the Feb. 14 death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri -- whose assassination was widely believed to have been at the hands of the Syrians -- and by mid-March the first phase of the Syrian pullout was nearly completed.

"The horrible crime that took away the life of (Hariri) has brought more Lebanese closer together than at any other time in recent memory," Cardinal Sfeir said at the press conference. "The perpetrators had not counted on the Lebanese people, of all persuasions, bonding with each other to absorb the shock and to plant the seeds for a strengthened democracy."

Only when those responsible for Hariri's death are held accountable can the country begin to heal, he said.

"Had the truth about previous political assassinations been uncovered, maybe Prime Minister Hariri's life would have been spared," he added.

Cardinal Sfeir told CNS he meets regularly with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a Maronite Catholic, and believes the president understands and is influenced by the church's concerns.

But he said the more important question for Lahoud is "whether he pays attention to the constitution."

The cardinal said Lahoud's term was to have ended in November after six years in office, but a constitutional amendment passed in September gave him another three years in power.

"I am not against the person as such," the cardinal said, "but I was against the principle of amending the constitution."

"The change has been made against our will because Syria wanted it changed," Cardinal Sfeir said.

He declined to name individuals he thought might be more suitable leaders for Lebanon as Syria withdraws, saying only that "there are many who can do the job, provided there will be no intervention from the third party."

Cardinal Sfeir said the withdrawal of Syrian forces also would help encourage the return of Lebanese who have left their country for more secure lives elsewhere.

"There are many who would return back to Lebanon if the situation is improved," he said. "But many have left Lebanon because there is no work for them and the political atmosphere was very (difficult)."

In brief remarks at the White House March 16, he said people of all faiths are alarmed by the emigration of Lebanese youth due to the lack of job opportunities and "suffocating political conditions at home. We look forward to see these conditions reversed because the future of Lebanon requires the talents and energy of all her children."

Bush said that during their private meeting he assured the cardinal "that United States policy is to work with friends and allies to insist that Syria completely leave Lebanon, Syria take all her troops out of Lebanon, Syria take her intelligence services out of Lebanon, so that the election process will be free and fair."

Although the ties some Muslims have with Syria complicate relationships between Muslims and Christians in Lebanon, Cardinal Sfeir said in the CNS interview that tensions between Muslims and Christians are not a problem for most people.

"The Lebanese people, Christians and Muslims, are worried about getting their own bread," he said, explaining that day-to-day survival is a shared concern that has little to do with religious differences.

Cardinal Sfeir had numerous pastoral events scheduled during his weeklong visit with Maronite Catholics in Washington and New York. One of his stops was to bless the altar in a new sanctuary at Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Washington. The new structure was not quite completed, but crews managed to install the church's altar at 3 a.m. on the cardinal's last full day in Washington so he could bless it before he left.

He also received an honorary doctorate from The Catholic University of America.

In a meeting with U.S. bishops and some of their staff members, he said Maronite Catholics "need now more than ever the solidarity of the West," while retaining their identity as a part of the East.

"Christians of the Middle East are a valuable bridge between East and West, between Christians and Muslims, between ancient and new cultures and societies," he said.

For his Washington visit, the cardinal was escorted by a substantial security detail, including Secret Service agents. Secret Service protection is typically provided for high-level diplomats and heads of state.

The 84-year-old cardinal brushed off questions about whether he feels threatened because of his high-profile advocacy for Syria to withdraw, saying his life "is in God's hands."

"It is the right of the people (to speak out)," he said.
END

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