The head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP General Michel Aoun on Monday said Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir "does not represent the public opinion, but rather the Church." Aoun said that the Patriarch "is free to express his opinion regarding the political situation ? but he does not decide our constitutional powers on behalf of us."

Aoun, addressing a delegation from Byblos province at his residence in Rabieh, accused ex-President Amin Gemayel and Lebanese Forces Chief Samir Geagea of "blocking the Bkirki meeting" that had been aimed at achieving consensus among Christian leaders on a presidential candidate.

He asked Sfeir to "clarify what is being said" about Bkirki's support for the unconstitutional government of Fouad Saniora. Aoun charged that the state of war "persists and we live it." He accused the ruling bloc of seeking a "president who keeps the war and we tell them that we would not accept such a president. We want a president to stop any war that is being planned."