Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab made a phone call to His Eminence the Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, offering him condolences over the passing of the Mufti of Zahle and Bekaa, Sheikh Khalil Al-Mais.

Diab mourned the death of Mufti Al-Mais with the following words:

Lebanon lost a man of dialogue and jurisprudence, and an enlightened scholar. Sheikh Khalil al-Mais was a symbol of unity and fraternity, who served his religion and society in silence.

May God Almighty bless the soul of Mufti al-Mais, whose death constitutes a great loss for Lebanon and the Islamic nation. My thoughts go to his family, relatives and generations that benefited from his outstanding thought.