Dar al-Fatwa seeks to achieve ‘Sunni unity’

Will the division among the Sunni ranks come to an end?This is the goal Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian hopes to achieve with an upcoming meeting among community members, set to be held at Dar al-Fatwa on Sept. 24.“The objective behind the mufti’s initiative is simple: to unite the ranks of the [Sunni] community in particular and the Lebanese in general,” a spokesman for Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni religious authority, told L’Orient-Le Jour.L’Orient-Le Jour learned from corroborating sources that the mufti’s initiative was launched at the insistence of Saudi ambassador Walid Bukhari, who fears the 1989 Taif Agreement may be weakened by the absence of true Sunni leadership in Lebanon.A president who respects the Taif AgreementDerian’s initiative comes at a time when the tug-of-war between President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime...