Free Republic

BEIRUT, Lebanon — An explosion tore through a business center in a Christian town near Beirut (search) early Wednesday, killing at least two people in the second deadly attack against an anti-Syrian stronghold since the murder of Lebanon's former prime minister last month.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An explosion rocked a commercial center in a Christian town north of Beirut early on Wednesday, killing at least one person and wounding another, police said. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast in the coastal town of Kaslik.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The patriarch of the Maronite church, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir called for Lebanon's Hezbollah militia to disarm along with Syria's promised withdrawal from the country. Sfeir, who has become a leading figure in the Lebanese Christian opposition in addition to his religious duties, spoke after meeting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) here to discuss the evolving situation in Lebanon. "They were a group that fought to free southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation," Sfeir said of Hezbollah, which helped push Israel out of the country in 2000 after 22 years. "But now that has...

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A car bomb rocked a predominantly Christian neighborhood in northern Beirut (search) early Saturday, destroying part of a building and wounding at least seven people, police said. The explosive left a seven-foot-deep crater in the roadway and shattered windows for several blocks in the New Jdeideh (search) neighborhood. The target of the attack wasn't immediately clear but it came amid political turmoil in Lebanon in the wake of the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (search), and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian troops to east Lebanon and Syria.

In their White House talks the two leaders reiterate the need for Syrian withdrawal. The Patriarch hopes international financial institutions will help Lebanon, expects international observers in the upcoming elections.Beirut (AsiaNews) – At the end of his meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nassrallah Sfeir, who came bearing the “hope for independence, sovereignty and freedom of all Lebanese, President George W. Bush said that the United States wants a free and democratic Lebanon and for this reason insists on the total withdrawal of the Syrian army and security services so that Lebanese can hold elections. “I assured His Eminence,” the President said,...

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) said he has a deep desire to see Lebanon secure religious and political freedom as he welcomed a leading Lebanese Christian into the Oval Office on Wednesday. Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the 900,000-member Maronite Catholic Church, has been a longtime critic of Syria's control in Lebanon. Bush said he assured Sfeir that the United States is working with allies to insist that Syria completely leave Lebanon so the country can hold free elections. "His eminence and I discussed, of course, Lebanon and our deep desire for Lebanon to be a...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, a strong critic of Syria's control in Lebanon who left Monday for a meeting with President Bush (news - web sites), has emerged as a key opposition figure whose influence cuts across sectarian lines in this religiously diverse nation. The soft-spoken 84-year-old patriarch, head of the 900,000-member Maronite Catholic Church, began criticizing Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs when few dared challenge the authority of the pro-Syria government and its Syrian backers. His first major salvo came in September, months before Lebanon was thrust into the spotlight with the Feb. 14 assassination of former...

Lebanese officials and foreign diplomats denounced the bomb attack that injured a minister on Friday, as a grave attack on Lebanon's democracy. The injured minister recently resigned over Syria's domination of the country. Outgoing Economy and Trade Minister Marwan Hamadeh was lightly wounded, his driver killed and his bodyguard slightly injured in the Friday morning attack outside Hamadeh's house on the capital's Mediterranean seafront. President Emile Lahoud denounced what he said was an attack on "security and stability in Lebanon," while Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri ordered "security authorities to promptly uncover those behind this odious crime that targets all honorable...

Iraqi Columnist: 'It is Difficult to Recall a Period in which Christian Arabs Were in Greater Danger than Today' In an article in the Iraqi daily Al-Zaman, a newspaper published simultaneously in London and Baghdad with an independent and liberal pedigree going back to the 1940s, columnist Majid Aziza highlights the plight of the Christian Arab community in the Muslim world. The following are excerpts from the column: [1] "Christians, natives of Arab countries, are escaping their countries of origin. This is a common statement nowadays everywhere and it is correct one hundred percent. Statistics show that a large...

American reactions to the recent bombing of a foreign workers' compound in Riyadh reveal multiple misreadings of the Arab world and — more dangerously — of both al Qaeda and the Saudis. The media seem to equate Arab with Muslim and, along with some in the administration, think that al Qaeda's war is against Americans and Westerners per se, rather than against all "infidels," a group al Qaeda defines idiosyncratically and expansively as anyone who is not a strictly observant Muslim. Both mistakes are compounded by reliance on the Saudis' distorted account of the attack. The November 8 bombing took...

A few hours after the blasts in Riyadh, a chain of commentaries mushroomed around the world. These op-eds ran before the media broadcast the names of the victims. By the next morning, the official "version" of the attack (in Washington, D.C., and abroad) was to label it as a Muslim-on-Muslim attack, blaming the Islamist al-Qaida for mass murdering Muslims in their spiritual motherland Arabia, and during their holiest month of the year, Ramadan. A U.S. State Department official quickly spread the word. "This was is not against America and the West only, " he said, "it is also against Islam."...

A few hours after the blasts in Riyadh, a chain of commentaries mushroomed around the world. These op-eds ran before the media broadcast the names of the victims. By the next morning, the official "version" of the attack (in Washington, D.C., and abroad) was to label it as a Muslim-on-Muslim attack, blaming the Islamist al-Qaida for mass murdering Muslims in their spiritual motherland Arabia, and during their holiest month of the year, Ramadan. A U.S. State Department official quickly spread the word. "This was is not against America and the West only, " he said, "it is also against Islam."...

The Lebanese Christians have been subjected to a deluge of misleading propaganda, leading them to believe that their new savior is General Aoun, who alone is leading the charge to have the Syria Accountability Act passed through the U.S. Congress. Nothing can be further than the truth, as he is the impediment to liberating Lebanon from the yoke of Syria, and he is used by the Syrians as a Judas goat to lead those seeking liberation to further destruction. The Syria Accountability Act probably will be approved by President Bush and that is a problem for the Lebanese resistance forces,...