Lebanese patriarch puts blame on Hezbollah for crisis-report

July 17, 2020 - Beirut, Lebanon, Asia, Middle East - Lebanon's leading Christian cleric has blamed Hezbollah for the country's crisis in an interview published this week, his clearest criticism yet of the Iran-backed group which he said had sidelined the state and "declares war and peace wherever it chooses". Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai's comments, in an interview with Vatican Radio, are his strongest intervention yet in the crisis.