Sfeir calls for cooperation with Syria

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Nasrullah Sfeir on Tuesday underlined the importance of holding cooperation and friendly relations between Syria and Lebanon based on continuous coordination. "I hope the next stage will be of national unity and accord ... it is time for Lebanon to get out of its critical condition," Sfeir said in a statement following his return home from the US.

He denied reports that he had called for dismantling Hizbullah weapons by force, adding that the resistance group had struggled to liberate South Lebanon form the Israeli occupation.