Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said on Sunday that releasing all

political prisoners was a precondition for national reconciliation.

Sfeir was addressing hundreds of supporters of jailed Lebanese Forces

(LF) leader Samir Geagea, who headed to Bkirki on Sunday to mark the

10th anniversary of his arrest. The students gathered at two points in

Achrafieh and Jounieh before merging into a bigger procession that

arrived in Bkirki in the late afternoon.

The procession, which was organized by the LF's student arm, raised

Lebanese and LF flags and posters of Geagea and called for Geagea's

release.

Sfeir addressed the younger protesters, saying: "Ten years have passed,

and when I look into your faces, I notice that some of you didn't even

know what the Lebanese Forces were all about, nor did you know their

leader, Samir Geagea. But you persisted in your love for a leader you

did not know."

Sfeir invited the young protesters "to stand united ... for Lebanon's

independence, its sovereignty and free decision-making power."

Sfeir also defended himself against accusations that he was fickle.

"Trust that we are not among those who change their positions with a

change in conditions," he said. "Our position is one and you know it.

We want to stay in this country, which is for us and other Lebanese."

Sfeir also reminded them that Lebanon was known for its co-existence

between Christians and Muslims, which everyone should preserve.

LF student coordinator Daniel Spiro read a statement on behalf of the

students in which he described Geagea as a "political prisoner par

excellence" and "one who believed in true national reconciliation ...

and providing a life of freedom and dignity for all the people of this

nation."

"He loved his country more than himself ... and he chose prison over a

ministerial portfolio," said Spiro, who accused the authorities

of "calling for democracy, true freedom and complete sovereignty for

neighboring countries, while exercising the worst kind of oppression

and suppression of those with an alternative opinion here."

"Don't they understand that there's no nation without sovereignty and

no complete sovereignty for this nation without a true accord among its

people," he said, adding that this could only happen "if the rulers

truly had decision-making powers."

Spiro accused the authorities of miring the country with debt and

corruption, pushing young people to emigrate and encouraging

sectarianism, fanaticism and rancor.