Rai statement reminiscent of bishops appeal, Fatfat says

Future MP Ahmad Fatfat praised on Monday Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai’s call for limiting the possession of arms in Lebanon to the legitimate forces.     

Fatfat told Voice of Lebanon that Rai’s call is “fundamental since it emerges from a reference that all Lebanese rely on when it comes to delicate positions and situations.”    

“Rai’s statement is consistent with President Michel Sleiman’s call for the need to pull out illegitimate arms,” he added.   

Fatfat added that “Lebanon has stepped today into an important path that is probably similar to the path of the 2000 bishops’ appeal for the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.”    

“Rai’s statement reflects a gradually-formed Lebanese consensus on the importance of having the Lebanese state as the sole security reference for all the Lebanese.”     

In his concluding remarks, Fatfat said that “the fate of the current cabinet does not rest with its head; it is rather tied to the decision behind its establishment, which means Syria and Hezbollah.”