Lebanon
On Wednesday the 17th of July 2008, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Catholicos Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics participated in the official welcoming ceremony in honor of the freed prisoner Samir Qantar and four of his friends in the Rafik Hariri International airport.
During the ceremony, the three leaders of the Lebanese authority were present, along the representatives of the different political parties and religious figures.
After the prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah which was known as “Operation Redwan” which marked a historical day in Lebanon and by this agreement all the martyrs of the Resistance were returned to their homeland.
In his turn, His Beatitude welcomed the detainees considering their return a victory for all the Lebanese.