29-11-2024 07:48 PM Jerusalem Timing

Al-Rahi Meets Suleiman on Eve of U.S. Visit

Al-Rahi Meets Suleiman on Eve of U.S. Visit

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held talks with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace on Friday ahead of his three-week visit to the U.S..

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held talks with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace on Friday ahead of his three-week visit to the U.S.

Al-Rahi left the presidential palace after the one-hour meeting without making any statement.

The patriarch kicks off his trip to the U.S. on Saturday. His first stop will be the city of Saint Louis in Missouri.

The patriarch’s trip will include stops in Maronite parishes in the states of Illinois, Ohio, Texas, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and others.

He is scheduled to hold talks with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon in New York. No meetings with U.S. officials are on his agenda.

Al-Rahi’s statements on the Resistance weapons and the Syrian situation have drawn criticism. He has linked the fate of the Resistance arms to the liberation of Zionist occupied Lebanese territories and said Syrian President Bashar Assad should be given the chance to introduce his promised reforms.