Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi lauded the military leadership during a meeting he held with Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, sources in Bkikri said on Thursday.

The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the meeting between al-Rahi and Qahwaji, which was held on Tuesday, was “positive.”

The patriarch “praised the efforts exerted by the army to preserve security, mainly on the border” with Syria, the sources said.

He also “lauded the army leadership’s role at this sensitive stage,” they added.

Islamic State militants and fighters from al-Nusra Front are hiding on the porous and mountainous border between Lebanon and Syria. Their threat rose when they overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August last year and took with them hostages from the Lebanese army and police.

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