REPORT: Rai from Tripoli: Victims are falling due to failure to reach reconciliation

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rai stressed on Sunday that the victims fell in Tripoli due to the failure to reach agreement and reconciliation between the Lebanese people, calling on the political parties to hold dialogue immediately.              

During his visit to the northern city of Tripoli to offer condolences over the death of the twin blasts’ victims, Rai said that the reconciliation between the Lebanese will definitely face many challenges, noting that should the political parties assumed their responsibilities, all these disasters would not have occurred.                    

Earlier in the day, Rai called on the Lebanese people to end their disputes that are threatening the Lebanese entity, “in order to contribute to the emergence of the promised Arab Spring.”                  

Rai made his remarks during a ceremony held in honor of Father Joachim Mubarak in the town of Kafarsghab in the district of Zgharta.                  

On Friday the 23rd of August, two explosions rocked the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli near the al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques, leaving 45 killed and almost 500 others injured.                                  

Thick black smoke billowed as gunshots were fired into the air. Ambulances rushed to the scene and security forces cordoned off the area for fears of further attacks.

The al-Taqwa mosque is where hardline Salafist Sheikh Salem Rafei preaches. He has been known for his anti-Syrian regime sentiment.                                       

The blasts come amid rising tension in Lebanon resulting from Syria's civil war, which has sharply polarized the country along sectarian lines and between supporters and opponents of the regime of President Bashar Assad.         


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