Jumblatt: Commitment to Taef turns Pope’s messages into action

National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblatt said on Monday that the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon has achieved many goals, including stressing “the pioneering role of Lebanon which has long been characterized by pluralism and diversity,in a nonreligious region.     

In his weekly statement to Al Anbaa Daily, Jumblatt said that the best way to turn the Pope’s messages into action would be the commitment to the Taef agreement “which emphasizes equal sharing, participation, and the strength of a unified state.”    

Jumblatt said that the state’s “resurrection” would encourage the elite and investors to come back to Lebanon, in addition to limiting youth emigration.     

“The Lebanese have a high responsibility in order to turn the content of the Apostolic Exhortation into action. This, Jumblatt added, comes in line with eliminating the fears of many Lebanese, Christians in particular, wrongly subbed as a minority.”

Jumblatt stressed that missing and wasting the important opportunity of the Pope’s visit would “take the country back to the traditional March 8 – March 14 schism at a time when his speech drew a clear road map for the future, with the preservation of the Christians’ presence in the Middle East and Lebanon, as its main goal.”       

Separately, Jumblatt said that Lebanon should be spared statements similar to those made by the Supreme Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Mohammad Ali Jaafari who spoke of the presence of members of the “Quds Legion” in Syria and Lebanon. “This statement raises many questions”, he concluded.