Lebanon's Patriarch Warns Against US Potential Syria Strike

A child looks out of the window as buses carrying Jaish al-Islam fighters and their families from their former rebel bastion of Douma, arrive at the Abu al-Zindeen checkpoint controlled by Turkish-backed rebel fighters near the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, on Apr. 12, 2018. Rebels in Syria's Eastern Ghouta surrendered their heavy weapons and their leader left the enclave, a monitor said, signalling the end of one of the bloodiest assaults of Syria's seven-year war. (Nazeer al-Khatib / AFP)

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Thursday criticized recent U.S. threats of a missile strike on Syria, warning that the repercussions of a strike against Syrian regime forces could worsen the refugee crisis and destabilize Lebanon.

“As the superpowers beat new drums of war against Syria, we regret the absence of the language of peace,” Rai said Thursday in Bkirki, according to the state-run National News Agency. “Most regrettable is the absence ... of the slightest human feeling toward millions of innocent Syrians forced to flee their land under the fire of war.”

Rai’s comments came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened via Twitter to launch missiles at Syria, following a suspected chemical attack outside Damascus that killed dozens of people.

But an attack on Syria, Rai said, could worsen an already dire refugee crisis, which Lebanon is straining to cope with, and destabilize countries surrounding Syria.

Nearly 1 million U.N.-registered Syrian refugees currently reside in Lebanon, although the real number of displaced Syrians inside the country’s borders is likely far higher.

The Maronite patriarch has previously urged Lebanese politicians to work on returning Syrian refugees to their country.

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“Do you realize that, while holding conferences in support of stability in Lebanon ... you retract everything you adopt by returning to the drums of war?” Rai said, addressing nations currently considering an attack on Syria.

“We appeal to the consciences of the great powers and the international community to work to end the war and to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting peace through political and diplomatic means,” the patriarch added.

This article has been adapted from its original source.