ASIA/LEBANON - For Patriarch Rai dialogue between Hezbollah and Sunni of the "Future" Movement would take Lebanon out of its crisis

Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - According to Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai, "if the dialogue between Hezbollah and the 'Future' Movement starts then we would have started the departure from the black tunnel in Lebanon". This is what the Primate of the Maronite Church told reporters in Beirut’s international A upon his return from Rome on Tuesday, November 25. The opening of a possible dialogue between the Shiite faction of Hezbollah and Sunni, represents a chance to break the stalemate that has paralyzed the political and institutional life of Lebanon for months, and that has so far prevented the election of a new President, after the former head of State Michel Sleiman ended his mandate in May.
The Lebanese system reserves the presidential office to a Maronite Christian, but the Christian leaders belonging to different blocks that dominate the Lebanese political scene have so far failed to agree on a candidate, and with their vetoes have contributed decisively to an institutional paralysis. The ongoing stalemate in the country’s political institutions stems fro te lack of dialogue between the country’s rival factions. The Shiite Nabih Berri, president of the Lebanese parliament, said that an important support at the beginning of the new phase of dialogue between the Shiite and Sunni faction, was delivered through diplomatic channels, even by the US and Saudi Arabia, a Country that has a strong influence on the "Future" Movement. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 26/11/2014)