…MP Ibrahim Kanaan couldn’t have lost his way to Maarab thanks to the full and close guidance provided by the Lebanese Forces media representative Melhem Riarchi. The latter made sure that he accompanies the Free Patriotic Movement lawmaker to the LF headquarters, being aware of Kanaan’s “unpleasant” past with the rival Christian party.

As the two men were wending their way to Maarab, they passed by the Saint Paul Cathedral as well the Our Lady of Lebanon shrine in Harissa; a divine blessing was desperately needed so as to invoke luck for something that was deemed as a “miracle” until the near past.

Kanaan finally reached his destination which he described as a “fortress”.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea was keen on preparing a “dignified” reception to the second FPM guest who gets to visit Maarab. It is worth noting that Minister Gebran Bassil had made a similar visit in 2013 to confer with Geagea over the Orthodox Gathering electoral law.

Following a quick guided tour at the complex, Kanaan was escorted to Geagea’s office.

During the two-hour meeting, Kanaan presented Geagea a history book about Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoyek’s era and the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

“In the hope that we would restore the Christians’ role, epitomized in this book’s pages, so as to preserve the missing national partnership,” Kanaan wrote as a dedication message.

Later on, the two men embarked on in-depth talks during which they reflected on current developments and harked back to past experiences.

The meeting, indeed, provided an opportunity for both Geagea and Kanaan to explore each other. The Lebanese Forces leader got to scrutiny what he had failed to know about the Metn lawmaker, while the latter got a closer look at his “rival”.

Lebanese Forces sources described the meeting as positive as both parties agree on the need to hold serious talks given that Christians can no longer bear another traumatic disappointment.

According to knowledgeable sources, Geagea and Kanaan failed to set an exact date for the LF leader’s much-anticipated meeting with Free Patriotic Movement Chief Michel Aoun. However, it has become clear that the meeting would take place this month.

A joint statement, expected to be released following the Geagea-Aoun meeting, will be set out in advance, the sources added.

As his visit ended, Kanaan headed back to Rabieh where he handed over MP Michel Aoun chocolate truffles with the Lebanese Forces flag printed onto the wrapper. Hopefully, Lebanon’s Christians would finally enjoy sweetness following decades of bitterness.

Excerpts taken from an article originally written in Arabic by Dany Haddad