Lebanon’s Christian Factions

Efforts to Reconcile Feuding Christian Factions Gain Steam Geagea ‘Ready’ to Meet Franjieh

BEIRUT – Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir briefed parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri on Sunday on the Maronite League’s ongoing efforts to achieve reconciliation among rival Christian leaders. Hariri met Sfeir at the Maronite Institute in Rome, where the patriarch is staying to participate in a synod of bishops.

The one-hour meeting focused on the need to consolidate national unity in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, a reconciliation meeting between Lebanese Forces (LF) chief Samir Geagea and Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh might be in the offing provided that some hurdles can be overcome, such as the latter’s insistence that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun should attend.

Geagea said on Sunday that he was awaiting a response from the Maronite League to determine the time and place of his meeting with Franjieh.

“Relations between Christian parties are normal except for the relations between the LF and the Marada … I told the Maronite League that I am ready to meet Franjieh and I was told that he is willing to meet me,” Geagea told the pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat in remarks to be published on Monday.

The LF boss denied that there were any rifts within the March 14 Forces coalition and warned of the dangers of a victory of the March 8 alliance in next year’s parliamentary elections.

Geagea added that Aoun was not capable of wining “70 percent” of Christian votes in the 2009 polls, as the former general did in the 2005 vote.

Well-informed sources told The Daily Star on Sunday that the issue of Aoun’s attendance at the Franjieh-Geagea meeting was likely to be resolved through a comprise, especially after the former general told reporters last week that his Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the LF were not unable to reconcile.

Last week, Aoun had said that political differences between the FPM and LF did not necessarily mean that the two parties were in a state of enmity. Aoun added that he had already reconciled with Geagea when he visited him in prison in May 2005.

However, a senior Marada official, Vera Yammine, told The Daily Star on Sunday that Aoun would only attend the meeting to lend his support and not to reconcile with Geagea.

“We recognize the fact that Aoun is the representative of the majority of Christians and for this specific reason we insist the he should attend the meeting,” she said.

“It is true that there is no need for reconciliation between Aoun and Geagea, but Aoun should participate in the meeting in order to sponsor the reconciliation,” she added.

In another indication that the reconciliation meeting could be held soon, LF lawmaker George Adwan told the local newspaper Al-Balad that Franjieh and Geagea were likely to meet in the Presidential Palace under the auspices of President Michel Sleiman and the Maronite patriarch. Adwan also said the issue of Aoun’s participation in the meeting was no longer an obstacle after the FPM leader had said that “he had no problem with Geagea.”

Also on Sunday, former President Amin Gemayel said that he fully supported reconciliation between Geagea and Franjieh.

He added that he was willing to participate in any meeting between Christian leaders that would help pave the way toward reconciliation.

Last week, Yammine told The Daily Star that the Marada party did not mind holding a four-way meeting among Franjieh, Geagea, Aoun and Gemayel.

In a related developlment over the weekend, Military Investigating Magistrate Jean Fahed pressed charges against three people involved in last month’s Bsarma incident, which resulted in the deaths of Marada official Youssef Franjieh and LF member Pierre Ishaq.

Fahed pressed charges on Saturday against Mansour Tawk (LF), Karam Jerjes (Marada), and Internal Security Forces officer Michel Michael (the bodyguard of LF lawmaker Farid Habib).

Fahed discussed his investigations into the Bsarma shooting with State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza before transferring the case to Military Judge Rashid Mezher, who is expected to issue arrest warrants for the three.

Efforts to reconcile Christian factions have gained momentum in the wake of a number of rapprochements between the country’s rival Muslim leaders.

The country-wide reconciliation efforts were kicked off by PSP leader Walid Jumblatt, who was the first to extend his hand to Druze rival Talal Arlsan.

Jumblatt went on to engage Hizbullah as representatives from his party met with Hizbullah representatives under Arslan’s auspices.

Hizbullah also participated in a similar effort to reconcile with Hariri, with a delegation from the group visiting the Future boss in September to prepare for an imminent meeting between Hariri and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The Nasrallah-Hariri meeting is still awaiting a number of security arrangements.

-By Hussein Abdallah and Daily Star staff