Maronite Archbishop: Let SLA settle in J'lem

Etgar Lefkovits, Jerusalem Post, 6.9.00

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert is considering a request by the Maronite Archbishop to Israel to allow about 3,000 former SLA members to settle in the capital.

Archbishop Paul Layah discussed the issue with Olmert in a meeting yesterday morning in Olmert's office.

A final decision on the matter is expected when Prime Minister Ehud Barak returns to Israel from the US.

"On the day that Jerusalem is at the center of world attention, it is only fitting that the issue of settling some SLA members in Jerusalem be discussed since they are an integral part of the State of Israel" said MK Ayub Kara (Likud), who heads the knesset lobby for the SLA, and who took part in the meeting. "Such a move would only serve to strengthen the capital", he said.

Kara said that the plan being discussed would be to house the former SLA members in an existing neighborhood in Western Jerusalem, and specifically not in East Jerusalem or the Old City. Another option being discusses would be to build a new neighborhood in the capital to be used exclusively for the SLA refugees.

"There is no doubt that the Christian community in Jerusalem needs to be strengthened," Olmert said, noting that he had met with the Archbishop even before the IDF carried out its withdrawal from South Lebanon in May to discuss different aspects regarding the withdrawal.

Of the 6,000 former SLA members who crossed into Israel as the IDF withdrew from Lebanon, about 4,700 remain in the country. About 650 have returned to Lebanon and another 400 were let into Germany.