Beirut: One of the more powerful Maronite Bishops, Samir Mazloum, vehemently denied that a meeting had recently taken place between Cardinal Mar Bisharah Al Ra‘i and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah as reported by the pro-Hezbollah daily Al Akhbar on Wednesday.
The Future Movement daily Al Mustaqbal reported on Thursday that Mazloum, who fills the number two post at the Maronite Patriarchate, insisted the claim was baseless.
“The Maronite Patriarchate does not stop at every news story that is published,” emphasised Mazloum, dismissing the Al Akhbar story as an example of someone’s vivid imagination. The pro-Hezbollah daily quoted anonymous March 14 sources earlier asserting that the two officials discussed the vacuum at the presidential post in light of a recent proposal to shorten the presidential term from six to two years as a temporary solution.
Sources close to the March 8 alliance told Al Akhbar that communications between Bkirki and the leadership of Hezbollah occurred after French President Francois Hollande pressed for just such a meeting during his visit to Lebanon. Mazloum’s denial was the latest in an on-going sectarian thug-of-war.
