Lebanese bishops fear division

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Lebanon's Catholic bishops warned that rival politicians' failure to agree on a consensus candidate for the presidency will lead the country to unprecedented disruption. The prelates admonished progovernment and opposition leaders and insisted that elections take place "on time and in line with the constitution."

"The Lebanese wait ... with anxiety because of the strong tension between the pro-government [forces] and the opposition," the Maronite bishops said following their Nov. 7 meeting. "That's why we reiterate with insistence our appeal for unity," they said. The Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, told reporters the current crisis was worse than when a 15-year civil war broke out in Lebanon in 1975.

Lebanon's parliament announced Nov. 11 that the presidential election would be postponed, for a third time, until Nov. 21. Lebanon's Constitution reserves the presidential post for a Maronite Catholic.

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