Al-Rahi urges US to finalize sea border talks with Israel

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday noted that Lebanon “cannot wait for a long time to extract gas and oil while Israel is already doing so.”

“We call on the United States of America, the mediator country, to finalize the issue with Israel, seeing as Lebanon has offered the utmost limit possible in order to secure the success of the negotiations,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon.

Separately, the patriarch said he strongly rejects any delay in the election of a new president.

“We are working, with all the relations that we have, to secure this election. And from our position, which rises above internal and external axes, we call on the various parties to align themselves patriotically and to create a positive atmosphere to secure the formation of a government and the election of a president,” al-Rahi urged.

Referring to his recent call for the election of a president who would not represent a provocation to any party, the patriarch said the new president must “abide by the Lebanese cause, national principles and Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.”

He must also “consolidate the principle of neutrality,” al-Rahi added.