Lebanese President Michel Aoun vowed on Sunday to facilitate the return of South Lebanon Army (SLA) members, who had escaped to Israel after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000. Asked by a reporter whether a possible general amnesty decree would include a solution to the Lebanese who were forced to leave Lebanon in 2000, Aoun replied: “The issue is not related to the general amnesty law.” “We would facilitate the return of those people to Lebanon, if they want to.” Hundreds of Lebanese who lived in the so-called South Lebanon Security Belt, a strip of land several kilometers wide along the Lebanese-Israeli border on Lebanons side, fled to Israel after the withdrawal on May 25, 2000. Before leaving, some of those Lebanese were suspected of collaborating with the Israeli army as part of the SLA, led by Antoine Lahad, who died in Paris in 2015. Aoun was speaking on Sunday after attending Easter Mass, celebrated by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rahi in Bkirki. In his sermon, the Patriarch congratulated Aoun on Easter Day, wishing him success in leading the country at the political, economic, security and social levels. The Patriarch addressed the economic situation in the country, in addition to the educational sector, which he described as Lebanons natural wealth. "This wealth is threatened to fall if the state does not maintain it. Schools cannot in any way support the burden of endorsing the new salary scale without raising tuition fees," Rahi said. "We pray, Mr. President, for God to help you in governing and to be able to find the appropriate solutions to these challenges," Rahi concluded.