The amended Constitution of 1990 embraces the principle of abolishing religious affiliation as a criterion for filling government positions, but few practical steps have been taken to accomplish this. Citizens still are struggling with the legacy of a 15-year civil war fought along religious lines. Some of the harshest fighting of the war occurred within religious groups. The Committee of Islamic-Christian Dialog remains the most significant institution for fostering amicable relations between religious communities. It has received the Archbishop of Canterbury and leading representatives of other groups on ecumenical missions to promote understanding between Muslims and Christians.
Clerics play a leading role in many ecumenical movements worldwide.
For example, the Armenian Orthodox Patriarch, Aram I, is the moderator for the World Council of Churches. The Imam Musa Sadr Foundation has also played a role in fostering the ecumenical message of Musa Sadr, a Shi'a cleric who disappeared in Libya in 1978. There were no arrests made in this case during the period covered by this report. The Government suspected that radical Sunni extremists carried out the bombings in retaliation for Russian military operations in Chechnya. In December 1999, Sunni extremists killed four LAF soldiers in an ambush in the northern region of Dinniyeh after these soldiers attempted to arrest two Sunni Muslims allegedly involved in a series of church bombings.