Lebanon's Maronite patriarch urges non-interference into judiciary

FILE PHOTO: Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the top Christian cleric, said on Sunday the country's judiciary should be free of political interference and sectarian "activism" amid tensions over a probe into last year's blast at Beirut port.

Rai also said that it was unacceptable for any party to resort to threats or violence after last week's deadly unrest around the investigation - which was Lebanon's worst street bloodshed in more than a decade and stirred memories of the ruinous 1975-1990 civil war.