Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Monday reiterated his call for political parties to close ranks in the wake of the deadly bombings that rocked Tripoli and Dahieh.

After offering condolences at the headquarters of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council on Dahieh's outskirts over the victims of the Rweiss blast, al-Rahi said "what happened on August 15 affected entire Lebanon and so did the martyrdom of 45 people on Friday in Tripoli, because we are one family."

And as he voiced solidarity with everyone affected by the Rweiss bombing, the patriarch said: "All people do not want the conflict to continue in Lebanon ... and had politicians showed more unity, especially the disputed parties, and had they taken decisions to pull the country out of its crises, these explosions would not have happened." [Link]