Lebanon needs to stay neutral to be saved from hunger and poverty, its senior Christian cleric said on Wednesday, urging Lebanese to keep out of conflicts in Arab countries but denying he was referring specifically to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai spoke after meeting President Michel Aoun, an ally of the heavily armed Hezbollah, which has supported Iran in its power struggle with Sunni-led Arab Gulf states in the region.
Lebanon is in the throes of an acute financial crisis seen as the worst threat to its stability since the 1975-90 civil war. The crisis is rooted in decades of state corruption and bad governance by the sectarian ruling elite.