BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Sunday pressed the Lebanese government to arrest the killers of a couple shot dead last month by members of a powerful clan in the country's east.
Speaking from the Fakhri family home where Sobhi and Nadimeh were shot dead in November by members of the Jaafar clan, Rai denounced authorities for cowering before what he said was political cover being enjoyed by the criminals.
“We launch this call from Btedaai to the Lebanese government and its officials, and we tell every political force protecting the criminals that this is rejected and unacceptable because no one is greater than divine justice,” Rai said in a televised speech during his visit to the village.
Sobhi Fakhri and his wife Nadimeh were killed in November when members of the Jaafar clan shot the couple in their home after they refused to hand over keys to their SUV.
Authorities were accused of deliberately evading the arrest of the culprits, who were running from the Lebanese Army in the Dar al-Wasaa area when they broke into the Fahkri family home and shot dead the couple and wounded one of their sons.
The patriarch said that those protecting the perpetrators are committing an even graver crime, while stressing that “justice generates reconciliation and forgiveness.”
One Friday, the patriarch received a delegation from the Fakhri family and called on the Jaafar clan to hand over the culprits.
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