A lawyer filed a criminal complaint against the Saudi al-Watan newspaper on Wednesday for publishing a caricature criticizing Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's visit to Syria. Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said attorney Wadih Aql filed the complaint with the general prosecutor’s office against the newspaper's publisher, its editor-in-chief and the caricaturist, Jihad Awrati.

Aql accused them of slandering the patriarch and inciting strife and racism, VDL said. The caricature replaced al-Rahi's mitre with a rocket and highlighted the common letters between the patriarch and the Syrian president's names in Arabic. The depiction was met with anger and criticism on social media websites. [Link]