'Lebanon should no longer be a platform for external conflicts': Maronite bishops

BEIRUT — The Council of Maronite Bishops said in a statement issued Wednesday following a meeting attended by Vatican envoy Archbishop Paul Gallagher that “Lebanon should no longer be a platform for external conflicts.”

Here’s what we know:

    • The bishops’ comments come a few days after Lebanon submitted an official response to a proposal from several Gulf countries to resolve their ongoing diplomatic rift with Beirut. The Gulf monarchies' proposal appears to entail the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weapons, which seems to be the main obstacle to any progress on the matter.

    • After their monthly meeting, the bishops said they welcome the fact that Bishop Gallagher “brings the Lebanese file to the international level.”

    • “We see the urgent need for Lebanon to announce its neutrality so that it is no longer a platform for external conflicts, that it recovers and concentrates on its good management of its situation,” their statement said.

    • Relations between Lebanon and the Gulf monarchies have deteriorated in recent months, especially following the broadcasting in October of remarks made by then-Information Minister George Kurdahi that were critical of the role of the Saudi coalition in the Yemen war.

    • In an attempt to mediate between the parties, the Kuwaiti foreign minister presented last Saturday, during a visit to Beirut, a series of proposals, among which was that the monopoly on arms be held by the Lebanese government and that UN resolutions, including resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon, and therefore of Hezbollah, be applied.

    • Lebanon responded by saying that priority must be given to “civil peace” in the country, and that the application of resolution 1559 requires time and for conditions to be met in a broader regional context.

    • On Sunday, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai criticized this response, saying that the state should take “courageous decisions” and not “hide the truth in order to protect the proliferation of weapons.”