WikiLeaks: Sfeir Expressed Concern over Shiites Displaced in 2006 War

Former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has reportedly informed ex-U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman during the 2006 war about his concern over displaced Shiites, saying they should return to their homes.

According to a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Akhbar daily on Friday, Sfeir expressed his concern over Shiites fleeing the bombing in the south and residing in Beirut and Mount Lebanon during a meeting with Feltman in Bkirki on August 3, 2006.

The former patriarch told Feltman that the Shiites shouldn’t remain in these areas and should go back to their homes, al-Akhbar said, according to the WikiLeaks cable.

Sfeir also reportedly told the former ambassador that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun had lost his popularity among the country’s Christians.

Former President Emile Lahoud’s stances from the resistance “are not helpful,” Sfeir told Feltman during the meeting, the newspaper said.