France, Dec. 5 -- Lebanon has been a refuge for diverse peoples and religious groups since ancient times. Christians have been rooted there for more than 2,000 years, and remained even as the region became the centre of Islamic empires.

Their influence grew over the centuries and reached a high point with the creation of Greater Lebanon in 1920, with help from France- the country in charge under an international mandate.

During this period, France drew Lebanon's modern borders and introduced state institutions that shaped the early administration, courts and security forces. Christian influence was thus anchored in the founding texts of the Lebanese Republic in 1943.

Today, after years of outside control by Syria and Israel, civil wars...