Lebanese cardinal says country's problems can't be solved on streets

Published: 2008-01-28

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNS) -- Lebanese Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, Maronite patriarch, said the country's political dilemma cannot be solved on the streets after several people were killed in riots. "Problems cannot be solved through street protests, but rather inside constitutional institutions," said Cardinal Sfeir Jan. 28. At least eight people were killed and more than 20 wounded in riots in Beirut Jan. 27, raising tensions in Lebanon amid a presidential crisis and recent car bombings. The violence began as a protest against electricity power cuts. Schools and universities in Lebanon were closed Jan. 28 in observance of a national day of mourning. Two days earlier Jan. 25, a massive car bomb in a Christian area of Beirut killed Lebanon's top anti-terrorism investigator, who was involved in probes related to a string of killings in recent years of mainly anti-Syrian politicians and figures. "What is going on aims at stripping the country of all its constitutional institutes," said Cardinal Sfeir Jan. 25, referring to the assassination.

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