Lebanon Maronite Patriarch Says No Party Should Resort to Violence

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanon Maronite Patriarch Says No Party Should Resort to Violence

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the top Christian cleric, said on Sunday the country's judiciary should be free of political interference and sectarian "activism" amid rising tensions over a probe into last year's blast at Beirut port.

Rai also said that it was unacceptable for any party to resort to threats or violence after last week's deadly unrest around the investigation - which was Lebanon's worst street bloodshed in more than a decade and stirred memories of the ruinous 1975-1990 civil war.

"We must free the judiciary from political interference, sectarian and partisan political activism and respect its independence according to the principle of separation of powers," he said in his sermon, Reuters reported.

"No one is above the law and judiciary."

The inquiry into the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion, which killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of Beirut, has made little headway amid pushback from powerful political factions, with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah saying Judge Tarek Bitar -- the lead investigator -- is biased and politicized.

Seven were killed on Thursday as crowds were on their way to a protest against Bitar in a demonstration called by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and it the Amal movement.

The violence added to concerns over the stability of a country that is awash with weapons and grappling with an economic meltdown.

"The democratic system has afforded us peaceful means for freedom of expression whether in support or opposition so it's not acceptable that any party should resort to threats or violence and setting up party checkpoints or tribal ones to get what they want through force," said Rai.

"We refuse to put vengeance in the place of justice?" he said.

He added that Lebanon's Council of Ministers must meet, take decisions and respect authority.

Hezbollah blamed the Christian Lebanese Forces party for the deaths on Thursday, an accusation the head of that party, Samir Geagea, denied.

On Thursday, the army initially said rounds were fired on at protesters as they passed through the Teyouneh traffic circle dividing Christian and Shi'ite Muslim neighbourhoods. It later said there had been an "altercation and exchange of fire" as protesters were on their way to the demonstration.



US Says Blast near Yemen UNESCO World Heritage Site Caused by Houthi Missile

A plume of smoke billows above buildings following US airstrikes on a neighborhood in Sana'a, Yemen, early 24 April 2025. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A plume of smoke billows above buildings following US airstrikes on a neighborhood in Sana'a, Yemen, early 24 April 2025. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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US Says Blast near Yemen UNESCO World Heritage Site Caused by Houthi Missile

A plume of smoke billows above buildings following US airstrikes on a neighborhood in Sana'a, Yemen, early 24 April 2025. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A plume of smoke billows above buildings following US airstrikes on a neighborhood in Sana'a, Yemen, early 24 April 2025. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

The US military said on Thursday a blast on Sunday near a UNESCO world heritage site in Yemen's capital city of Sanaa was caused by a Houthi missile and not an American airstrike.

The Houthi-run health ministry said a dozen people were killed in the US strike in a neighborhood of Sanaa. The Old City of Sanaa is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site, Reuters said.

President Donald Trump ordered the intensification of US strikes on Yemen last month, with his administration saying they will continue assaulting Iran-backed Houthi group until they stop attacking Red Sea shipping.

A US Central Command spokesperson said the damage and casualties described by Yemen's Houthi officials "likely did occur" but they were not caused by a US attack. The closest US strike that night was more than three miles (5 km) away, the spokesperson said.

The US military assessed that the damage was caused by a "Houthi air defense missile" based on a review of "local reporting, including videos documenting Arabic writing on the missile's fragments at the market," the spokesperson said, adding the Houthis subsequently arrested Yemenis. He did not provide evidence.

A Houthi official was quoted by the New York Times as saying the American denial was an attempt to smear the Houthis.

Recent US strikes have killed dozens, including 74 at an oil terminal on Thursday in what was the deadliest strike in Yemen under Trump so far, according to the local health ministry.

The US military says the strikes aim to cut off the Houthi militant group's military and economic capabilities.

Rights advocates have raised concerns about civilian killings and three Democratic senators, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, wrote to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Thursday demanding accounting for loss of civilian lives.

The Houthis have taken control of swathes of Yemen over the past decade.

Since November 2023, they have launched drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel.

They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza where Israel's war has killed over 51,000, according to Gaza's health ministry, and led to genocide and war crimes accusations that Israel denies.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israel.