A delegation from the Druze monotheistic community in Lebanon visited the town of Ain Traz in the Aley district1. to offer condolences for former MP Fouad Al-Saad, a member of the Democratic Gathering and the National Struggle Front. The delegation was led by the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, MP Taymour Jumblatt, alongside a large partisan delegation, His Eminence the Sheikh Aql Sami Abi Al-Muna, and a large spiritual and popular delegation from the Mountain, which included members of the Druze Council, advisors to the Sheikhdom of the Aql, sheikhs from the Al-Irfan Monotheistic Foundation, MPs Marwan Hamadeh, Akram Chehayeb, and Hadi Abu Al-Hassan, and former MPs Ghazi Al-Aridi, Abdullah Farhat, Antoine Saad, Ayman Choucair, Aladdin Terro, and Fadi Al-Habr, as well as the Secretary-General of the Progressive Socialist Party Dhafer Nasser, and a number of leadership council members, commissioners, internal agents, branch directors, and several mayors and prominent figures in the region.
The delegation was received by Democratic Gathering member MP Raji Al-Saad and a crowd of residents from the area. MP Jumblatt and His Eminence the Sheikh Aql, along with Al-Saad and the family of the deceased, received the condolences of the participating delegations.
The Sheikh Aql
Sheikh Abi Al-Muna delivered a speech on the occasion, in which he paid tribute to the late former MP Al-Saad and his national and humanitarian journey, saying: "We knew Fouad Bey Al-Saad as the descendant of an ancient family and a noble national approach. He grew up in the embrace of a quiet, peaceful mountain village, and in the shadow of an ancient oak tree rooted in its history and meaning... He carried with him the mountain authenticity and Lebanese values, learned from the oak the meaning of steadfastness and rooting in the land, and from the beautiful, diverse nature of the mountain, the beauty of diversity and coexistence. He was, in truth, a man of composure, wisdom, calmness, and steadfastness... He was at peace with himself and his national Christian identity, before aspiring for reconciliation with his fellow monotheistic brothers in the Mountain. Therefore, he worked with honesty, sincerity, and enthusiasm with the iconic leader Walid Bey Jumblatt, with Patriarch Sfeir—the patriarch of wisdom and reconciliation—and with all those loyal to achieving the historic reconciliation and turning the page on pain and conflict. He loved his monotheistic people, and they loved him, and he carved for himself a name and a place in the heart of Mukhtara and in the hearts of the people of his region and the entire Mountain."
He added: "'And for every nation is a term; so when their time has come, they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it].' This is the inescapable term of Fouad Bey, and this is his destiny: to depart in peace, having fulfilled his national and humanitarian duties, leaving behind a rich legacy of achievements and people's love, and bequeathing to his family and fellow citizens a testament written in their hearts to complete the reconciliation through diligent work and fruitful cooperation, to fortify the Mountain and the nation by preserving the values of coexistence and adhering to the law, and to continue the journey of building the state and saving the homeland."
The Sheikh Aql concluded: "For his soul, we ask for rest and mercy, and for his relatives, loved ones, and all of you, we wish for long life and safety."
