LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJanuary 24/2010

Bible Of The Day
Genesis 1/26-27: "1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them"

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Hezbollah's Coup in Lebanon Targets Cedars Revolution/By: Walid Phares/January 23/11 
Collapsing Churches Prompt Protests in Egypt For New Law on Church Construction/AINA/January 23/11 
Congress to Press Obama on Religious Persecution/By Ken Timmerman/January 23/11 
Is this the end of Lebanon, the Message?/By Mshari Al-Zaydi/January 23/11 

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 23/11 
US official warns against Hezbollah-led cabinet/Now Lebanon
Qatari Emir Hopes President would Postpone Consultations, Suleiman Sees No Justification for it/Naharnet
French-Saudi-Turkish-Qatari Consultations in Paris to Reach Solution to Lebanese Crisis/Naharnet
Mashnouq says March 8 staging coup/Now Lebanon
Nasrallah to Give Speech Sunday Night after Hizbullah Leadership Meeting/Naharnet
Netanyahu to Hold Security Talks on Situation in Lebanon/Naharnet
Patriarch Sfeir expressed his concern regarding current political situation/iloubnan.info
Hizbullah-led gov't would turn Lebanon into Gaza/Jerusalem Post
Alliot-Marie: Paris objects to rendering the Special Tribunal for Lebanon/iloubnan.info
Democtratic Left says March 8 are implementing totalitarian project/iloubnan.info
Lebanon Ponders its Political Future/Voice of America
Samir Geagea: Lebanese leader: Hezbollah will turn us into Gaza/Ynetnews
Tunisians Set to Form Hezbollah Group/Fars News Agency
Wahabi: Jumblatt received threats from Hezbollah/Ya Libnan
'US warns Lebanon against Hizbullah-led gov't'/J.Post
US diplomat: No aid if Hezbollah heads government/Ynetnews
Mofaz on Lebanon: Hezbollah military, political power will grow/Ynetnews
Four Tripoli MPs under Spotlight: Votes are Necessary to Keep Hariri in Power/Naharnet
Jumblat: Lebanese Will Receive Democratic Gathering's Answer during Monday's Consultations/Naharnet
Emergency Meeting for Muftis Council to Address Latest Developments/Naharnet
Egypt Says Palestinian Group behind Church Bombing/Naharnet


Question: "What did Jesus mean when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)?"  /Naharnet
Answer: Let’s begin with what Jesus didn’t mean. Many people interpret “cross” as some burden they must carry in their lives: a strained relationship, a thankless job, a physical illness. With self-pitying pride, they say, “That’s my cross I have to carry.” Such an interpretation is not what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”
When Jesus carried His cross up Golgotha to be crucified, no one was thinking of the cross as symbolic of a burden to carry. To a person in the first-century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by the most painful and humiliating means human beings could develop.
Two thousand years later, Christians view the cross as a cherished symbol of atonement, forgiveness, grace, and love. But in Jesus’ day, the cross represented nothing but torturous death. Because the Romans forced convicted criminals to carry their own crosses to the place of crucifixion, bearing a cross meant carrying their own execution device while facing ridicule along the way to death.
Therefore, “Take up your cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender. After each time Jesus commanded cross bearing, He said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:24-25). Although the call is tough, the reward is matchless.
Wherever Jesus went, He drew crowds. Although these multitudes often followed Him as Messiah, their view of who the Messiah really was—and what He would do—was distorted. They thought the Christ would usher in the restored kingdom. They believed He would free them from the oppressive rule of their Roman occupiers. Even Christ’s own inner circle of disciples thought the kingdom was coming soon (Luke 19:11). When Jesus began teaching that He was going to die at the hands of the Jewish leaders and their Gentile overlords (Luke 9:22), His popularity sank. Many of the shocked followers rejected Him. Truly, they were not able to put to death their own ideas, plans, and desires, and exchange them for His.
Following Jesus is easy when life runs smoothly; our true commitment to Him is revealed during trials. Jesus assured us that trials will come to His followers (John 16:33). Discipleship demands sacrifice, and Jesus never hid that cost.
In Luke 9:57-62, three people seemed willing to follow Jesus. When Jesus questioned them further, their commitment was half-hearted at best. They failed to count the cost of following Him. None was willing to take up his cross and crucify upon it his own interests.
Therefore, Jesus appeared to dissuade them. How different from the typical Gospel presentation! How many people would respond to an altar call that went, “Come follow Jesus, and you may face the loss of friends, family, reputation, career, and possibly even your life”? The number of false converts would likely decrease! Such a call is what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”
If you wonder if you are ready to take up your cross, consider these questions:
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing some of your closest friends?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means alienation from your family?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means the loss of your reputation?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing your job?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing your life?
In some places of the world, these consequences are reality. But notice the questions are phrased, “Are you willing?” Following Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean all these things will happen to you, but are you willing take up your cross? If there comes a point in your life where you are faced with a choice—Jesus or the comforts of this life—which will you choose?
Commitment to Christ means taking up your cross daily, giving up your hopes, dreams, possessions, even your very life if need be for the cause of Christ. Only if you willingly take up your cross may you be called His disciple (Luke 14:27). The reward is worth the price. Jesus followed His call of death to self (“Take up your cross and follow Me”) with the gift of life in Christ: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25-26).
Recommended Resource: True Discipleship: The Art of Following Jesus by John Koessler.
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Report: U.S. to end Lebanon aid if Hezbollah takes control
Report by the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat comes days after an endorsement by Lebanon's Druze leader raises the chances for the formation of a Hezbollah-led coalition.
By Haaretz Service
The United States will stop aiding Lebanon if Hezbollah seizes power in the country, the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat quoted a U.S. official as saying Sunday.
Lebanon's national unity government collapsed in recent weeks after Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the cabinet to protest against caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri's reluctance to cut ties with the United Nations-sponsored tribunal that is probing the 2005 assassination of his father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah fears being implicated by the court's prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, who has filed confidential draft indictments to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's pre-trial judge, Daniel Fransen.
Hezbollah has warned in the past few months that it will "cut off the hands" of whoever tries to accuse "one single member" of the group in the Hariri murder.
In the first reported U.S. comment on the possibility that a Hezbollah-controlled government could rise from the ashes of the current crisis, a U.S. official told Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday that such a power shift could mark the end of U.S. aid to Israel's neighbor to the north.
According to the top U.S. official quoted in the report, congress would refuse to provide additional aid to anyone "taking orders from Hezbollah."
Late last year, two top U.S. lawmakers attempted to hold up $100 million that was approved for Lebanon's army but not yet spent, saying they wanted to make sure neither funds nor arms meant for the Lebanese army would reach Hezbollah.
The U.S. did not, however, withold the aid, with the U.S. State Department voicing strong support for the continuation of the military aid, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledging strong support for the country ahead of the future findings of the UN-backed tribunal probing Hariri's assassination.
Chances for the formation of a Hezbollah-led coalition rose dramatically after Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said Friday his group would support Hezbollah ahead of parliamentary talks on Monday to pick a new prime minister.
With Jumblatt's support it is almost certain Hezbollah and its allies, with 57 seats in parliament, will win a majority to endorse Sunni politician Omar Karami to lead a new government.
"I am announcing the right political stand ... by assuring the steadfastness of the group [Progressive Socialist Party] alongside Syria and the resistance," he told a news conference. Resistance is a term used to describe Hezbollah.
Speaking to Army Radio on Sunday, MK and Deputy Knesset Speaker Majali Wahabi said the Druze leader voiced his support for Hezbollah after the militant organization threatened to conduct a violent take over of his district unless he did so.
Jumblatt leads a bloc of 11 parliamentarians and his support is crucial to decide who forms the government, Hezbollah or Hariri, who said Thursday he will seek to continue his premiership.
Once Syria's ally, Jumblatt moved into the anti-Syrian camp after Hariri's killing, but he has re-positioned himself once again and last year sealed his reconciliation with Syria.
Jumblatt urged all sides to continue dialogue and warned against excluding any party, saying "it will only lead to more division."
In Lebanon's power-sharing political system, the prime minister should be a Sunni, the president a Christian Maronite and the parliament speaker a Shi'ite. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has called parliamentarians for consultations Monday.

Is this the end of Lebanon, "the Message?"
23/01/2011
By Mshari Al-Zaydi/Asarqalawsat
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal announced that Saudi Arabia has given up its efforts to resolve the crisis in Lebanon, which is something that came to be known in the press as the "S – S initiative" [Saudi – Syrian initiative]. This was following a decree from King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, after talks with different Lebanese blocs reached a deadlock, hitting a wall of intransigence and mutual suspicion, with all the details distorted beyond recognition.
After the Saudi Arabian decision, Turkish Foreign Minister [Ahmet Davutoglu] who had visited Damascus and Beirut with his Qatari counterpart in an attempt to help the [Lebanese] parties reach an understanding and achieve a settlement on the basis of the Saudi-Syrian recommendations, has now returned to Ankara after announcing that "the Lebanese parties are not close to reaching an agreement." The Qatari Foreign Minister soon followed suit.
This means that the regional powers have failed to convince the Lebanese parties involved in this dispute, particularly Hezbollah and the Future Movement, to find a political settlement to ensure the stability of the country and extricate it from the present stage of tension and sedition, avoiding political and sectarian confrontation.
Could this be accorded to the special clout afforded to political parties in this small country, and their affiliation to powers in other countries?
I believe that the reason that this crisis is so complex is that its major powers are not responsible for their own decisions, and that for the most part, these decisions are dependent upon regional powers that have their own agendas. Therefore Lebanon is not where the real action is taking place, at least in the eyes of the regional powers.
In short, any settlement must therefore be reached by the regional powers, rather than by the local agents.
This is the political side to the Lebanese crisis. The cultural side of the Lebanese crisis is that Lebanon or "the message" as some Lebanese like to dub the country, used to be a perfect model for peaceful coexistence between different creeds and sects and which for a long period of time served as proof of the possibility of creating an all-embracing national identity despite religious, sectarian, and ethnic differences. However Lebanon, which was previously the pride of all Arab intellectuals, is now on the verge of collapse and disintegration, and is today bursting to the seams with sectarian clashes.
The most important part of Prince Saud al-Faisal's statement was when he candidly said that "if the situation reaches separation or partition of Lebanon, this means the end of Lebanon as a state that is the model of peace coexistence between different religions, ethnicities, and communities."
In other words, and without going into all the boring details with regards the conflict between Hezbollah and its supporters on one hand, and the Future Movement and its backers on the other, the idea of Lebanon "the message" will have ended. This message is that people in our region can peacefully coexist side by side, and that their religious, sectarian, and ethnic differences can be transformed into a beautiful and harmonious mosaic.
This message was strangled in Iraq, has recently been tested in Egypt, and it seems that its obituary is being written in Lebanon. This is the greatest tragedy, and that is to live without hope in dull uniformity, without joy or diversity.

US official warns against Hezbollah-led cabinet
January 23, 2011 /An unnamed US diplomat warned against the formation of a Lebanese cabinet led by Hezbollah, adding that such a government “would create many obstacles” in Lebanon’s ties with Washington. In an interview with As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper published Sunday, the official said that the US Congress would refuse military aid to Lebanese officials “who receive instructions from Hezbollah.” He also said that Washington did not obstruct the Saudi-Syrian talks to end the Lebanese political crisis. He added that Hezbollah’s forcing of the Lebanese cabinet collapse was “a scare operation… or even blackmail for the opposition to reach its goals.” “The option of [resorting to] violence is unacceptable. This option worries us [because] only one party is threatening violence,” the official said in a reference to Hezbollah. He also denied his country’s interference in Lebanon’s efforts to nominate a new premier. The official called on Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun—a key Christian ally of Hezbollah—to “realize that every political party should be cautious in dealing with a terrorist organization, and Hezbollah is [one] according to US law.”The Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Monday filed indictments for the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, reportedly implicating Hezbollah. The anticipated indictment has generated political turmoil in Beirut over the past months, culminating in the January 12 collapse of the unity government led by PM Saad Hariri. Hariri is now heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations postponed to next Monday between Sleiman and parliamentarians on the appointment of a new premier. Hezbollah and the FPM have said that they will not back Hariri for the premiership, while Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt officially announced on Friday that his party will side with Hezbollah and Syria, leaving the rest of his Democratic Gathering bloc MPs’ decisions unknown.-NOW Lebanon

Mashnouq says March 8 staging coup
January 23, 2011 /Lebanon First bloc MP Nohad al-Mashnouq said on Sunday that there are attempts to stage a coup in Lebanon, a reference to political moves by the March 8 coalition.
The MP told LBCI television that March 8 wants “to make the rest of the people understand that it is ready to resort to military options” in Lebanon. He also said that the Syrian administration “has not yet understood that there has been change [since its 2005 withdrawal from Lebanon] and is still [presuming] that Lebanon is an [arena] to pressure the US.”
“I am convinced that stability in Lebanon cannot happen without Syria, but the latter must change its perception toward [Lebanon].” “There is no successful US policy [in the Middle East], instead [there is a policy] looking to make achievements at the expense of Lebanon.” Beirut has been in political turmoil since the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Monday filed indictments for the 2005 murder of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri implicating the powerful Hezbollah group -- a move that prompted the collapse of the Western-backed unity government led by his son. Prime Minister Saad Hariri is now heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations already postponed to next Monday between President Michel Sleiman and parliamentarians on the appointment of a new premier. Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement have said that they will not back Hariri for the premiership, while Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt officially announced on Friday that his party will side with Hezbollah and Syria, leaving the rest of his Democratic Gathering bloc MPs’ decisions unknown.-NOW Lebanon

MP Mohammad al-Hajjar: says Jumblatt’s bloc not unified over PM nomination
January 23, 2011 /Democratic Gathering bloc MP Mohammad al-Hajjar—who is a member of the Future Movement—said on Sunday that his bloc, which is headed by MP Walid Jumblatt, does not have a unified position regarding who to back from premiership. The MP told Future News that the upcoming prime minister of Lebanon will win the nomination by a very slim margin. “The talks about possibly postponing the [January 24] premiership consultations intend to avoid a [political] battle between rival coalitions, especially since the March 8 coalition still insists on [preventing] Prime Minister Saad Hariri from being re-named as the country’s premier.”“Hezbollah will take [to the streets] if it feels it [does not have enough] votes to support its candidate for the premiership.” Beirut has been in political turmoil since the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Monday filed indictments for the 2005 murder of PM Rafik Hariri implicating the powerful Hezbollah group -- a move that prompted the collapse of the Western-backed unity government led by his son. Hariri is now heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations already postponed to next Monday between President Michel Sleiman and parliamentarians on the appointment of a new premier. Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement have said that they will not back Hariri for the premiership, while Jumblatt officially announced on Friday that his party will side with Hezbollah and Syria, leaving the rest of his Democratic Gathering bloc MPs’ decisions unknown. -NOW Lebanon

Wahhab wants to “whip” Geagea
January 23, 2011 /Tawhid Movement leader Wiam Wahhab slammed Sunday Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, adding that the latter should be “whipped.”“In a country that has [someone like] Samir Geagea, I should carry a whip and use it on him every day,” Wahhab told New TV. “Is there any friend of Geagea that was not betrayed by the latter?”The Tawhid Movement leader added that “Geagea is a comic but he is not funny,” a reference to the LF leader’s Saturday press conference in which he warned that a cabinet headed by former Prime Minister Omar Karami would usher in corruption and Syrian control.  Wahhab also said that he does not respect US Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, and called her the “La vache qui rit [The Laughing Cow, which is the name of a popular cheese brand].” He called on March 8 to “look seriously into ways to assume power” in Lebanon, adding that it should have a serious economic project for financial reform. “The opposition needs to have political boldness [to assume power].”Beirut has been in political turmoil since the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Monday filed indictments for the 2005 murder of PM Rafik Hariri implicating the powerful Hezbollah group -- a move that prompted the collapse of the Western-backed unity government led by his son. PM Saad Hariri is now heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations already postponed to next Monday between President Michel Sleiman and parliamentarians on the appointment of a new premier. Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement have said that they will not back Hariri for the premiership, while Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt officially announced on Friday that his party will side with Hezbollah and Syria, leaving the rest of his Democratic Gathering bloc MPs’ decisions unknown.-NOW Lebanon

Kanaan: There is a place for Hariri in the next cabinet
January 23, 2011 /There will be a place for Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the next Lebanese cabinet if the PM agrees to it, Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan said on Sunday.
The MP told Al-Manar television that “no one wants to isolate anyone,” but that the problem with Hariri is that “he caused all the economic, political and financial problems in the country, which is why [Change and Reform bloc leader] MP Michel Aoun said that he does not want him for as next PM.”“The next cabinet will be a bridge to move from one phase to another.”He also said that efforts will be sought by March 8 to represent all Lebanese parties in the next cabinet. Beirut has been in political turmoil since the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Monday filed indictments for the 2005 murder of PM Rafik Hariri implicating the powerful Hezbollah group -- a move that prompted the collapse of the Western-backed unity government led by his son. Hariri is now heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations already postponed to next Monday between President Michel Sleiman and parliamentarians on the appointment of a new premier. Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement headed by Aoun have said that they will not back Hariri for the premiership, while Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt officially announced on Friday that his party will side with Hezbollah and Syria, leaving the rest of his Democratic Gathering bloc MPs’ decisions unknown.
-NOW Lebanon

Qatari Emir Hopes President would Postpone Consultations, Suleiman Sees No Justification for it
Naharnet/Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani hoped in a telephone with President Michel Suleiman that the parliamentary consultations over appointing a new prime minister would be postponed in order to allow more room for reaching a settlement, revealed Arab diplomatic sources to the daily Al-Mustaqbal Sunday. Suleiman, however, ruled out such a development, saying that it would be "unjustified seeing as he was the one who called for holding the consultations in the first place," reported the daily An Nahar Sunday from the president's visitors. He stressed that there should be no fears of the crisis negatively impacting Lebanon's economy, adding: "No one can eliminate the other … despite the current difficulty, tomorrow will come and the disputes will be resolved." Meanwhile, informed sources told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat is one of the strongest advocates of postponing the consultations. It also reported presidential sources as saying that Suleiman would not approve a postponement unless all sides agreed to it. Furthermore, a March 8 political source told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat Sunday that the opposition is certain that the parliamentary consultations will fall in its favor following Jumblat's announcement that he would support Syria and Hizbullah's position in the matter. "If the results of the consultations do not favor the opposition candidate, then they should be postponed," it added. "Reappointing Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri to his position will only complicate matters further and if he does return, then he won't be able to form a new government," it added. "We are seeking partnership in government with the other camp, but according to our conditions and that of the new majority," it said. If the conditions are rejected "then we will form a Cabinet without them and it will be constitutional on all levels." "We are not seeking vengeance, but the new authority will be formed based on new standards and changes will be necessary in a number of administrations in a way that would enable the state to confront the dangers of the upcoming phase," it continued. Beirut, 23 Jan 11, 09:10

French-Saudi-Turkish-Qatari Consultations in Paris to Reach Solution to Lebanese Crisis
Naharnet/A meeting between the French, Saudi Arabia, Turkish, and Qatari foreign ministers is expected to be held in Paris on Sunday in order to reach a solution to the Lebanese political crisis, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to also join these talks, in a sign of France's determination to continue efforts that would ensure Lebanon's stability and sovereignty. Informed French sources told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat Sunday that the consultations are dependent on developments in Lebanon, especially Monday and Tuesday's parliamentary consultations to appoint a new prime minister. The daily added that the quartet meeting in Paris may be postponed if the Turkish foreign minister is unable to attend. Meanwhile, Voice of Lebanon radio reported on Sunday that the French leadership is working in coordination with regional and concerned countries to prepare a contact group that would include France, Turkey, and Qatar that would start its functioning on Monday. The group would visit Lebanon at the beginning of the week to take get informed of the latest developments in the country, it added. On Saturday, Secretary General of the French presidency Claude Gueant held talks in Riyadh with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on the situation in Lebanon. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was in Paris on Saturday to hold talks on Lebanon, while Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is also set to arrive in Paris on Sunday for similar consultations. Beirut, 23 Jan 11, 09:40

Jumblat: Lebanese Will Receive Democratic Gathering's Answer during Monday's Consultations
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat defended his decision to stand by Syria and Hizbullah in the upcoming parliamentary consultations, by saying that he based it on "obvious national and regional factors." He told the daily An Nahar Sunday that the Lebanese will receive the Democratic Gathering's answer during Monday's consultations. "It is good to hold calm consultations, especially if we respect the constitutional game," he added. Commenting on his recent meeting with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Jumblat said: "The meeting was very excellent and he is the most aware of the dangerousness of the situation in the country." Beirut, 23 Jan 11, 10:00

Consultative Meeting at National Liberal Party HQ after Saturday's March 14 Meeting Turned into a Demonstration
Naharnet/A consultative meeting for Christian politicians and figures is scheduled to be held at the National Liberal Party's headquarters on Sunday during which the gatherers are expected to issue a call to President Michel Suleiman over the parliamentary consultations and the "pressures" being exerted on democratic life in Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday.
Meanwhile, a conference for March 14 leaders and activists under the slogan of "A Consultative Meeting in Defense of the Republic" that was held on Saturday turned into a demonstration before the March 14 General Secretariat headquarters at Le Gabriel Hotel after its management received a phone call urging it against hosting the conference. The hotel management chose not to host the gatherers as it sought against getting involved in political disputes, reported the daily. It later issued a statement however denying that it had been pressured against holding the meeting, saying that it is open to all gatherings on condition that they not be covered by the media in a way that would portray it as a side in the ongoing disputes. The meeting meanwhile condemned Hizbullah and its allies' recent actions, warning that the situation in Lebanon could return to the way it was before March 14, 2005. Members of the March 14 General Secretariat, MPs, and activists, and rejected a government that adopts a "corruption ideology" and which rejects freedoms and the truth. Beirut, 23 Jan 11, 12:05

Four Tripoli MPs under Spotlight: Votes are Necessary to Keep Hariri in Power
Naharnet/Eyes are turned to four Tripoli MPs whose decision on whether to name the March 8 or the March 14 nominee for the premiership would play an important role in deciding the fate of the government. Former PM Najib Miqati, Minister Mohammed Safadi, Ahmed Karami and Qassem Abdelaziz met Sunday to announce their final stance from parliamentary consultations that will be held on Monday and Tuesday. The meeting ended without them issuing a statement, while Voice of Lebanon Radio reported Sunday that they will refrain from naming a candidate. As Safir daily said on Saturday that Miqati will stand by his ally Ahmed Karami in voting against Omar Karami, who is the March 8's nominee for the prime minister's post. However, Miqati is also keen on coordinating with his "new ally" Safadi who in his turn is allied with Abdelaziz. The latter will most likely vote for Caretaker PM Saad Hariri, As Safir said. Beirut, 23 Jan 11, 13:28

Egypt Says Palestinian Group behind Church Bombing
Naharnet/Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said on Sunday that a Palestinian group was behind the New Year's church attack in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria that killed more than 20 people. "The Palestinian Islamic Army, which has links to Al-Qaida, is behind the attack on the al-Qiddissin church in Alexandria," Adly said in a speech to mark Police Day, carried live on state television. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the church in the Mediterranean city as worshippers emerged from a New Year's Eve mass. The official MENA news agency puts the death toll at 23, with scores more wounded. Previously, the death toll stood at 21. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which followed threats to Egypt's Copts from the Al-Qaida-linked group in Iraq that claimed an October 31 attack on a Baghdad church. Egypt's Christians, who make up 10 percent of the 80-million population, have been the target of several attacks and have repeatedly accused the authorities of systematic discrimination.(AFP) Beirut, 23 Jan 11, 13:02

Congress to Press Obama on Religious Persecution
By Ken Timmerman
http://www.newsmax.com/blogs/KenTimmerman/id-90
22 January-2011
Members of Congress from a bipartisan human rights panel on Thursday challenged the Obama administration to get serious about putting pressure on the governments of Egypt and Iraq to halt violent attacks on Christian minorities."Human rights has been significantly demoted in the past two years, and it's appalling," said Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J. "This administration gets an F for its response to human rights abuses."For Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., the granddaughter of Assyrian and Armenian Christians who fled the genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish allies at the end of World War I, the dramatic upsurge in attacks against Christians in Iraq and Egypt was reminiscent of stories she had learned from childhood.
"Going to the market and riding the bus, Iraqi Christians face death every day," she said. "There is no question that Christians are being targeted" in Iraq.
Rep. Eshoo called on the Obama administration to "move this up in the set of priorities of the State Department" by elaborating a "comprehensive strategy" for dealing with the persecution of Christians in Iraq. "A crisis calls for more than good intentions," she said.
Although tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer funds have gone to reconstruction programs in Iraq, a scant $20 million has been allocated to projects in the predominantly Christian Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq, the ancestral homeland of many Iraqi Christians and a relative safe haven to which thousands of families have fled in recent years. Worse, the way U.S. aid money has been spent is "not transparent," Rep. Eshoo said. So she and other members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate recently asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a far-reaching audit of U.S. reconstruction assistance to Iraq, in particular as it touches on projects for Christian areas.
Juliana Taimoorazy, president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council of Chicago, Ill., told members in private meetings on Thursday that most of the $20 million has been misappropriated or diverted by the entities controlled by the neighboring Kurdish Regional Authority (KRG), including a private company allegedly controlled by the former prime minister of the Kurdish Region, Nechirvan Barzani.
"We have only seen $180,000 of that money reach the Nineveh Plain for a well," she said.
Sister Maria Hanna, a Dominican nun who runs the al-Hayat maternity hospital in Baghdad, was promised a $1.2 million grant by the State Department to build a similar facility in Karakhosh in the Nineveh Plain.Instead, the money was paid out by the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul to a different entity not operating in the Nineveh Plain, which currently has no hospital at all for a population estimated at around 100,000.
The lack of schools, jobs, industry, and infrastructure, coupled to an exploding population of refugees who have fled the violence in Baghdad and Mosul, has led local leaders to despair.
"Many families leave after they have stayed here for awhile and see there are no jobs and they give up hope," Bassam Ballo, mayor of Tel Kaif in the Nineveh Plain, told me during a trip to the region two years ago.Since then, the situation has only gotten worse.
Gwendolen Cates, a documentary filmmaker from New York who just returned from northern Iraq, was stunned and saddened by what she saw. "There is a level of despair I have not seen on any of my previous trips," she told me. Some 1,800 Christian students at Mosul University are staying home from classes because they have received death threats -- in some cases, letters handed to them by Muslim security guards working at the university itself, she said.
Rep. Eshoo said that a comprehensive strategy must address how to distribute assistance and development aid, how to protect communities at risk, how to help the Iraqi government in prosecuting the perpetrators of crimes against Christians, and streamlined asylum procedures for Iraqi Christians who are in imminent danger.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who chaired Thursday's hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Capitol Hill, slammed the Obama White House for its tepid response to the violence.After the Oct. 31 attack on Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad by Muslim jihadists that killed 58 Christians attending mass, the White House "failed to even mention the word 'Christian' or 'church,' suggesting that this attack was simply part of a broader pattern of generalized violence in Iraq and not a targeted attack against an indigenous faith community," Rep. Wolf said.
Wolf said he was exploring legislation that would require the State Department to designate special representatives in the embassies in Baghdad and Cairo whose sole job will be to monitor human rights and religious persecution. In tandem with that move, Wolf said he wants President Obama to appoint a "special envoy" to persecuted minorities in the Middle East, who will report back to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress. Wolf said he was motivated by the example of Sen. John Danforth, who was president Bush's special envoy to the Sudan and whose personal prestige was instrumental in brokering the peace deal that led to last week's referendum on independence for Southern Sudan.
The Obama administration seems poised to oppose such a move, or to acquiesce in a way that prevents any meaningful action.
Deputy Assistant of State Tamara Cofman Wittes was noncommittal when asked whether the State Department would favor such an appointment, noting that Republicans in the Senate had blocked the confirmation of the administration's nominee to become ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, a position created by Congress in legislation sponsored by Rep. Wolf that was strongly opposed by the Clinton administration. The fact that it took the Obama administration two years to fill the ambassador-at-large position showed "a lack of passion" at the State Department to pursue religious persecution, Wolf said. Nina Shea, a member of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, also criticized the Obama administration for treating the latest bombings of Christian churches in Iraq and Egypt as isolated events.
"The goal of the extremists is to drive Christians from Iraq," she said. "It is religious cleansing."Shea warned that the Commission this spring would debate whether to designate Egypt a Country of Particular Concern because of its failure to crack down on the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.
Designation by the commission could lead to U.S. economic sanctions, a diplomatic chill, and possibly even a cut-off in U.S. foreign aid to Egypt, which continues to receive more than $2 billion every year from the U.S. taxpayer.Shea said that Egypt "needs to address incitement to violence by halting government subsidies to clerics and media who incite to violence."
There have been documented cases recently of government clerics in Egypt issuing death threats to Coptic Christians, she said.
Rep. Trent Franks issued a stern warning to the government of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak."It is increasingly difficult for us as Americans to maintain support for a government that is attacking the voices that would help sustain its own democracy, while defending the Islamic extremists who inflame religious intolerance," Franks said.
"If no significant change takes place, I will call for the United States to reduce aid to Egypt."Dina Guirguis, a research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Coptic Christians were being prosecuted by the Egyptian authorities "for praying inside their own homes without a permit."
Muslims converts to Christianity are routinely discriminated against by the authorities, who stamp into their identity papers that they are "former Muslims," a designation that is an open invitation to discrimination, she said.
Coptic Christians account for roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million population, while in Iraq the Christian community has been decimated by the massive exodus and today accounts for less than two percent of Iraq's 28 million people.
Representatives of the Chaldo-Assyrian-Syriac communities in the United States were asking Congress to support last month's declaration by a coalition of 16 Christian groups inside Iraq for the creation of a "19th province" in Iraq in the Nineveh Plain.
"We don't want this to be only for the Christians," said David William Lazar, chairman of the American Mesopotamian Organization of California. "We want it to be the only true multicultural, pluralist province in all of Iraq."
Until recently, Christians inside Iraq have been divided over whether to press their claim under Article 125 of the Iraqi constitution for a separate province. But the dramatic surge in Muslim violence against Christians has convinced many community leaders that self-government is the only way to guarantee enough security to prevent the remnant of the community still in Iraq from fleeing into exile.
"We have recruited 3,000 people to receive police training, but the Iraqi government refuses to fund it," said Alan Mansour, the U.S. representative of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM).
The ADM is the largest Christian party in Iraq and currently has three members in the Iraqi parliament.
Some 700 Christian policemen trained using funds appropriated with help from Sen. Mark Kirk were "demoted to become local guards" by the Kurdish authorities, he added.
Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., the firebrand of the freshman class of tea party representatives, said he was eager to join the battle.
"We have a responsibility to the Christians of Iraq. We need to stand up as a leader of the Judeo-Christian world and create options for Iraqi Christians so they can come to the United States or remain anchored to the ancestral homeland."
West did two tours of duty as a U.S. Army officer in Iraq and served later in Afghanistan as a civilian adviser. He wowed audiences in Florida during the election campaign with his frank assessment of the threat from jihadi Islam.
"What's going on in Iraq today is religious genocide," he said. "When tolerance becomes a one-way street, it leads to cultural suicide."
Read more on Newsmax.com: Congress to Press Obama on Religious Persecution Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
By Ken Timmerman
www.newsmax.com
© 2011, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.

Collapsing Churches Prompt Protests in Egypt For New Law on Church Construction
GMT 1-22-2011 1:52:44
Assyrian International News Agency
(AINA) -- Unusually bad winter weather in Upper Egypt all last week focused attention once again on the controversial restrictions on church building. The rainy weather caused roofs of dilapidated churches -- which have been waiting for years to receive construction permits -- to collapse.
Much of the on-going sectarian strife in Egypt is related to the ability of Christians to build churches. Most human rights organizations in Egypt have called on the Egyptian government for the last 15 years to promptly adopt "a unified law governing construction of the houses of worship." believing that this law would eliminate more than 90% of the sectarian tension.
Presently church building in Egypt is still partly governed by the Hamayouni Decree of 1856, and the 1934 el-EzabI Decree that stipulated 10 conditions that must be met prior to issuance of a presidential decree permitting the construction of a church. The conditions include the requirement that the distance between a church and a mosque be not less than 100 meters, the approval of the neighboring Muslim community, the number of Christians in the area and whether or not the proposed church is near the Nile, public utilities or railways. Copts view these regulations as confirmation of their Dhimmi or second-class citizenship status.
After the November 2010 parliamentary elections, Copts kept getting mixed messages about the long awaited "law on places of worship," which was promised to be introduced to Parliament this session. On the opening session of the new parliament, however, President Mubarak did not introduce the church building law.
A heated debate took place in parliament on January 5 between Shura member Dr. Mofeed Shihab, Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and Dr. Refaat Al-Saeed, chairman of Al-Tagamo'h Party, who talked of the necessity of adopting the places of worship law. Al-Saeed was rebuffed by Mr Shihab, who said what he is asking for will "Give rise to discord and sectarian strife, ecause the number of churches built in the era of President Mubarak has exceeded what has been built in all previous periods."
Four days later the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) said it was considering a unified law on places of worship for Muslims and Christians. However, the final draft of the bill has yet to take shape.
On January 17, Dr. Mostafa El Fekki, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Shura Council, said that the law on places of worship will not be adopted due to procedural considerations, pointing out that this law opens the door to sedition in the community, and may encourage a Muslim to build a mosque on an area of 100 acres just like some of the monasteries for Christians do. He believes that this situation could only be solved by a presidential decree or by new legislation repealing the old and starting anew.
"They cannot keep giving us excuses as if we are mentally retarded," said Coptic activist Mark Ebeid. "Gone are the days when we could be pacified with hollow promises, honeyed rhetoric, and citizenship rights which are never implemented."
In 2005 President Mubarak delegated authority to the country's 26 governors to grant permits to expand or rebuild existing churches. But this has not alleviated the problem.
Last week thousands of Copts staged peaceful rallies to protest local governors' decisions to halt their church permits, or to order demolition of parts of their new churches, under pretexts of deviations in the the blueprints of the church drawings. "It all boils down in the end to the emergence of a dome in the construction," says activist Wagih Yacoub.
In the Governorate of Minya, more than 5000 Copts in Maghagha staged a sit-in because the tent in which they have been using as a church since March last year collapsed due to the profuse rain on January 17. They called on the Governor of Minya to issue the rebuilding permit for the Diocese of Maghagha Church, which was demolished to be replaced by a new one. However, since March 2010, the situation has come to a standstill. Because after demolishing the buildings, the Governor insisted that for a new diocese to be built the Bishop has also to demolish his 45 square meter home and "should find somewhere else to sleep" (AINA 8-26-2010).
During the Feast of Epiphany on January 19, Maghagha Copts demonstrated and held banners inside the soggy tent, saying that "come rain, come heat, nothing will stop us from praying."
During the feast, Anba Agathon, Bishop of Maghagha called on the government to abolish the Hamayouni Decree. "We are in the 21st Century , and the laws of Ottomans when they were occupying Egypt were all revoked by the state except for the Hamayouni Decree. As citizens we demand the revocation of the Ottoman law concerning our places of worship. We cannot accept that it should remain any longer."
Also in the Minya Province the roof of el-Amodein Evangelical church in Samalut collapsed on January 19 because of heavy rain. Pastor Sameh Wasfi told Copts United that some 1500 youth have staged a sit-in in the church, angry as the church had applied for a renewal permit five years ago without any progress. He said that a number of state security officers promised to complete the permit procedures for demolition and rebuilding of the church as soon as possible. The church also serves as a village school.
In the Governorate of Beni Suef thousands of Copts protested ten days ago inside the newly-built church in Ezbet Gaffer, Al-Fashn, after a decision by the city's administration office to demolish the church's dome, citing that its builders did not adhere to the licensing conditions, as the Presidential Decree came with no dome. The church was built years ago and was developing cracks in its walls, but Al-Fashn Diocese asked for a permit for demolishing the old building and replacing it with a new one, which would serve three villages. The Governor intervened to pacify the Copts and sent the drawing to Cairo to see the possibility of amendments.
Only two months ago a similar situation took place at the new Coptic Church of St. Mary and St. Michael's, in Talbiya, Giza, which ended with deadly consequences for Copts and a huge human rights scandal for the government. State security forces opened fire with live ammunition and used tear gas on women, children and youth who were present at the church, in order to halt construction of the church and demolish the building. Upon seeing a dome being erected, the governor of Giza and the local authorities sent at dawn on November 24 nearly 5,000 security forces, which surrounded the church, shot at the congregation with live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas The clashes between security and the Copts resulted in the death of three Coptic men from bullet wounds and a four year old child from tear gas being thrown inside the chapel. More than 79 Copts were wounded, some severely, and 157 people were detained, including women and children, and were all charged with premeditated murder of a police officer, assaulting security officers, rioting, theft and destruction of public property (AINA 11-30-2010).
By Mary Abdelmassih
Copyright (C) 2011, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.

Tunisians Set to Form Hezbollah Group
TEHRAN (FNA)- Several student and youth groups in Tunisia announced that they intend to model their political moves and activities on the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and form a Hezbollah party in their country to organize their activities with the help of the Tunisian people. "The advanced revolutionary and Islamic models like the Hezbollah of Lebanon can provide a bright and promising prospect for Tunisia," one of the student activists, Jamil bin Alawi, told FNA on Saturday. He expressed the hope that Islamism would grow in his country, and said, "Future belongs to the young Muslim and revolutionary people of Tunisia." Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's government fell after weeks of bloody protests over corruption, unemployment, and high food prices. Tunisia's Constitutional Council has announced the country's Parliament Speaker Fouad Mebazaa as the interim leader, formally ousting Ben Ali from office. Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi had earlier taken over from Ben Ali. The brewing uprising dubbed by many analysts as the worst unrest in at least 23 years erupted on December 17th, when a young fruit vendor in the city of Sidi Bouzid set himself on fire after police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling without a permit.
The Tunisian youths took their decision to form a Hezbollah group nearly two weeks after a new group called 'Hezbollah' stepped onto the political and military scene of Iraq after releasing a statement, where it described its main goal as "campaign against the United States and campaign against occupation". The Arab group declared in the statement released on its official website that resistance and jihad against occupying countries are its main goals. The Hezbollah of Iraq also warned all US citizens and militaries to leave Iraq ASAP.

Hezbollah's Coup in Lebanon Targets Cedars Revolution
Walid Phares
/World Press Review
http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/3684.cfm
January 22, 2011
Last week, Hezbollah overthrew the Lebanese government. The constitutional coup, which effectively strips Prime Minister Saad Hariri of his powers, was timed with precision. As soon as news broke that he would meet President Obama in Washington, the group brought down Lebanon's cabinet. Hariri's father, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, was blown up along with his escort and a number of other Lebanese politicians almost exactly six years earlier, on February 14, 2005.
Hezbollah's latest political maneuver, along with its strategic re-arming over the past six years, has dangerous ramifications for Lebanon, and U.S. and Western interests in the Levant. But perhaps more imminent are the threats Hezbollah now directs against the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon, formed to investigate and charge the perpetrators of the country's own Valentine's Day massacre.
Hours after the government collapsed, Hezbollah ally and former minister of parliament Wi'am Wahhab told Orange TV—an outlet owned by another Hezbollah ally, General Michel Aoun—that "we buried the Special Tribunal in 2011. It is a gang of Zionists which we've stopped." Wahhab also warned any Lebanese official against cooperating with the U.N. agencies, "or else."
In the wake of the Hariri killing in 2005, tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens took to the streets to protest what they saw as Syrian- and Iranian-sponsored terrorism, despite heavy Baathist occupation since 1976 and the menace of Hezbollah since 1982. The demonstrations, gathering Christian, Sunni and Druze citizens in addition to a few anti-Hezbollah Shiites, peaked in what was coined as the Cedar Revolution on March 14 of that year, which brought 1.5 million protesters into downtown Beirut, from a total population of only 4 million.
It was the greatest democratic march in the history of the Arab Middle East. As a result of this street referendum, the United States, France and the United Nations ordered Syrian troops to withdraw under the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, which Washington had introduced in September 2004 at the request of Lebanese Diaspora leaders. Assad pulled out his troops quickly in April, but Hezbollah kept its militia intact.
A "March 14 coalition" of politicians rose to represent the Cedars Revolution and won the first post-Syrian-withdrawal legislative elections. It collected a strong majority in the Parliament, but it perpetrated two lethal mistakes. One, it didn't oust the pro-Syrian president and speaker of the previous assembly as Tunisian masses did last week with Bin Ali. Thus the pro-Syrian elements remained in the bureaucracy and the military, slowing the Cedars Revolution. Two, the naïve March 14 politicians invited Hezbollah—even though as a minority faction in Parliament—to join the cabinet, before it surrenders its weapons.
Between July 2005 and May 2008, Hezbollah waged an urban terror campaign against the Cedar Revolution and the government it had formed after winning Lebanon's legislative elections. The Lebanese were living a Prague Spring-like hiatus between receding Syrian oppression and the Hezbollah suppression that ultimately plunged the country back into chaos.
During those years, Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies murdered lawmakers, journalists, activists, Lebanese Army officers and civilians, and in July 2006 started a ruinous war with Israel. Iranian and Syrian masters instructed their Hezbollah henchmen to take back the country and crush the Cedars Revolution, but above all, to achieve one goal at any price: keep them out of the investigation of the Hariri assassination.
The United Nations formed its Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to investigate Hariri's murder by a Security Council resolution in 2006. After four years, the STL has pinned the killing on members of Hezbollah and possibly the Syrian security services. Indicting Hezbollah could lead to international measures and sanctions against the Iranian-backed network, depriving Tehran of its most efficient tool of terror, and pressuring its cells from Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and West Africa all the way to Latin America. As Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) of the House Intelligence Committee claims, Hezbollah has significant operations as far away as Mexico, on the U.S. southern border.
By charging Hezbollah, the STL could make it much harder for Iran to keep Hezbollah in motion. The stakes are high, so for months, Tehran and Damascus have been planning to take down Lebanon's government.
Commentators on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV and in the pro-Syrian daily al-Akhbar have often threatened to do away with the Hariri cabinet. The group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has delivered speech after speech threatening terrible reprisals if the Lebanese government "dares collaborating with the STL."
Hezbollah ultimately made its move at a highly symbolic moment: on the eve of Hariri's meeting with President Obama to seek Washington's support for justice in his father's killing. Hezbollah's March 8 coalition resigned from Lebanon's unity cabinet, depriving it of a majority.
In Lebanon today, a democratic government faces political sabotage and the threat of worse from Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. The Cedar Revolution, which cost Rafiq Hariri his life, is under the terrorists' knife. At its discretion, Hezbollah can kill hundreds of its political opponents, and reignite a devastating war with Israel.
The United States is obligated to support those brave Lebanese who marched for democracy, freedom and justice in 2005. This is a test of President Obama's will to stand by the weak and oppressed in the Middle East and beyond.
*Dr. Walid Phares is a professor of global strategies in Washington and the author of The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East. He advises members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament.