Fadlallah laments Lebanon status as "open arena", urges rational dialogue

Source: Daily Star, 5-1-2008
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah expressed dismay on Friday over the fact that the crisis in Lebanon was not being treated in a sensible and objective way.
In his weekly Friday sermon delivered from the Imam Hassanayn Mosque in Haret Hreik, Fadlallah said the debate that Lebanon was witnessing is far from an objective and rational dialogue, which he said, "studies the demands of the opposition and loyalists in a realistic way that contributes to activating the crisis."
"The international game wants Lebanon to remain in chaos that guards regional and international interests from the Lebanese ones," he said. "Our small country has been turned into an open arena for all projects and conspiracies."
"Lebanon is meant to be the lost country that is searching for its future without finding any trace of it," he added.
Higher Shiite Council vice president Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan urged Arab League chief Amr Mussa to hold the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Baabda Palace "so this place becomes a consensus center for all Lebanese politicians."
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Sunday in Cairo, and the political deadlock in Lebanon is expected to figure among the top items to be discussed on the agenda.
"Since we have agreed to elect Suleiman president, why don't we reach consensus over the formation of a national unity government and resolve all discords?" Qabalan asked during his Friday sermon.
Qabalan stressed the need to "open a new white leaf" where cooperation is promoted.
"Opening old leaves harms Lebanon because many [figures] have a black record," he said.