Relatives of Fathers Sherfan and Abi Khalil ask state to clarify their fate

Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on Dec. 8, the relatives of two priests who disappeared in Deir al-Qalaa, Beit Meri (Metn), on Oct. 14, 1990, called during a press conference for the Lebanese state to make every effort to shed light on their case.

Fathers Albert Sherfan and Sleiman Abi Khalil were kidnapped from a convent in the aftermath of the Syrian invasion of the regions of Lebanon that were outside the authority of the regime of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. Many soldiers and civilians were reported missing at that time, as well as during the 1975-1990 civil war and until the Syrian withdrawal in 2005. The overthrow of Assad and the opening of his terrible prisons revived the hope of the relatives of the missing that they would find traces of them.

In the press conference on Thursday, lawyer Sharbel Sherfan, who spoke on behalf of the relatives of the two priests, considered that there is no longer "any reason to prevent contacts with the new authorities on the ground in Syria, to elucidate the mysteries of these disappearances."

He paid tribute to the reopening of this case by the Lebanese justice system, which recently questioned Lebanese people who were there at the time of the events, and hoped that "this case will remain within the humanitarian framework, far from political dissensions."

The lawyer also assured that "the relatives of the two missing persons are preparing for escalation measures in the event that they notice the slightest negligence."

Bishop Abdo Abou Qassem, president of the Catholic Information Center, reaffirmed "that the Church is committed to knowing the truth about the fate of Fathers Sherfan and Abi Khalil," stressing that it "is following this case closely and is asking the state to clarify the fate of all those who disappeared on Lebanese territory."

As for MP Alain Aoun, he outlined the stages of the struggle to address the painful issue of those missing from the war in Lebanon, up until the vote on Law 105/2018, which led to the creation of a commission dedicated to this purpose. He considered that "the departure of the old regime in Damascus and the arrival of a new authority is a door to the opening of the archives of the Syrian army."

A cedar for the missing priests

MP Michel Moussa, chairman of the parliamentary committee on human rights, finally recalled that this issue is above all "legal and humanitarian" and that the Lebanese state must seek to reveal the fate of the missing persons, through the competent committees and authorities.

On Friday, a cedar tree was planted in Deir al-Qalaa as a tribute to the two missing priests, at the initiative of a group of faithful, following a mass celebrated by the head of the convent, Father Bechara Elia. After blessing the cedar, the religious dignitary assured that the Antonine Order to which the two priests belonged "is closely following the case of the two disappearances."