Canon Andrew White, the vicar of the only Anglican church in Baghdad, said it was “a major miracle” that a bus load of children returning from their First Communion were not killed in a double bomb attack.
Canon White had first alerted his supporters across the Anglican Communion in Facebook and Twitter posts at around 1pm BST. At that time, he believed that some of the children had been killed.
Last week the EU rejected Israel’s request to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organisation. The recent attack in Bulgaria, in which five Israeli tourists were killed and 30 others wounded, and the concern that Syria may provide Hezbollah with chemical weapons, added urgency to Israel’s request. Nonetheless, Europe, which is vulnerable to terrorism on its own soil, refused the request, in part on the grounds that Hezbollah is also a political party.
Hezbollah does indeed play on both fields: it is a terrorist organisation operated by Iran and a Lebanese political party. But the EU’s stance, whereby political activity is regarded as sound defence against being declared a terrorist organisation provides legitimacy to terrorism, encourages violence, and fatally harms moderates.
Europe, the cradle of democracy, should have stated unequivocally: one cannot be involved in terrorism and enjoy the legitimacy of a political party….
Read it all (requires subscription).
Iran is rapidly gaining new capabilities to strike at U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, amassing an arsenal of sophisticated anti-ship missiles while expanding its fleet of fast-attack boats and submarines, U.S. and Middle Eastern analysts say.
The new systems, many of them developed with foreign assistance, are giving Iran’s commanders new confidence that they could quickly damage or destroy U.S. ships if hostilities erupt, the officials say….
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged world leaders to act to halt the “slaughter” in Syria, as thousands of troops reportedly move on the city of Aleppo.
“I make a plea to the world – do not delay… Act now to stop the slaughter…,” Mr Ban said.
His comments came as activists said troops with tanks and armoured vehicles were redeploying to re-take areas of Syria’s second city held by rebels.
Two small portable shrines are giving Bible scholars new clues about Israelite religious practices during the time of David and Solomon. They also indicate a pendulum swing in the world of biblical archaeology.
Three men at the heart of President Assad’s defence team have died in a suicide bombing, Syrian state TV says.
The president’s defence minister, brother-in-law and head of his crisis team were at a meeting at national security headquarters in Damascus.
No footage has yet emerged of the attack in which the national security chief and interior minister were also said to have been wounded.
The victories of Islamic parties in Egypt and elsewhere have forced the United States to embark on an untested strategy to engage with groups that have historically been hostile to American interests, Middle East analysts said.
“From a U.S. perspective, we have no choice but to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood,” said Shadi Hamid, a Middle East analyst at the Brookings Doha Center, a think tank in Qatar. “I don’t see what the alternative is.”
And what happens? Egypt politicians defy supreme court as parliament convenes.
In a rare intervention, Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt warned that many of the estimated 55 million Anglicans across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australasia and the Americans felt they had “no say” in the process of selecting a successor for Dr Rowan Williams.
He voiced fears that the selection committee, dominated by liberal-leaning British church leaders, would be unlikely to represent the traditionalist views of most Anglicans overseas.
As a result, their decision might only serve to further fracture the Worldwide Anglican Communion, which has been riven with disputes over issues such as homosexuality in recent years.
Yesterday afternoon, the Committee for National and International Concerns heard testimony on about 12 resolutions encouraging the church to act in support of the Palestinian people. Even our own Diocese of Maryland put forth a resolution on this complex issue. After reading the resolutions and listening to the testimony, here is my distillation of the arguments at hand.
No one disagrees that Palestine and the minority community of Palestinian Christians are being oppressed, persecuted, and denied basic human rights. Everyone also agrees that in the United States, the story of the Palestinian Christian people is not widely known and they feel forgotten by their brothers and sisters in the West.
But how do you fight the oppression and discrimination of a people?
Presbyterians in favor of divestment said that their church could not in good conscience hold stock in companies that they said perpetuate an unjust occupation and undermine the search for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But opponents said that divestment would unfairly vilify Israel, and accomplish little but further polarization.
Arthur Shippee, a delegate from southern New England, said: “What divestment will achieve is this: We will add a whisper soon lost in the storm, but we will further the divisions in our church when we have our own serious problems to address, and we will precipitate divisions with the synagogues within our communities whom we work with frequently on a variety of issues. This will be perceived as picking on Israel, and how could it not?”
Speaking in favor of divestment and against the pro-investment resolution, Tim Simpson, a delegate from the Presbytery of St. Augustine in Jacksonville, Fla., said: “The Palestinians aren’t asking us for a check, sisters and brothers. The Palestinians are asking us for justice. They’re asking us for dignity. How can you write a check to a people who don’t control their own water?”
Several resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be considered by the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, meeting here July 5-12.
Among them is Resolution B019, which calls on the church to engage actively in the discipline of advocacy, study, and prayer for peace between Israelis and Palestinians; encourages all Episcopalians to travel to the Holy Land as pilgrims and witnesses; affirms the importance of economic measures designed to support a negotiated two-state solution; and calls for positive investment in the Palestine Territories and in the social service institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East.
The resolution, proposed by Diocese of Northern California Bishop Barry Beisner and endorsed by Olympia Bishop Gregory Rickel and Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Services & Federal Ministries Jay Magness, also commends the leadership of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in calling all Episcopalians to advocate for an end to the conflict and increase support for the Jerusalem diocese and the other Christian communities of the Holy Land.
Throughout the years, Christians, like many other minorities in the region, have lent their support to those regimes that have guaranteed their security and religious freedom. In Iraq, Christians rose to the highest levels of society under Saddam Hussein’s regime, while in Egypt, Coptic Christians were protected from ultraconservative Salafists under Hosni Mubarak. As secular leaders from the secretive Alawite sect, the Assad dynasty largely preserved Christian life, protecting Syria’s minorities from what was perceived as a collective threat from the country’s Sunni majority.
Watching their once-shielding dictators fall like dominos across the region, Christians have suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of history. Faced by a rising tide of radical Sunni Islam, Christians in Iraq and Egypt have fled by the thousands. In Syria, concern over Christian repression has fallen on deaf ears, drowned out by popular support for the country’s opposition in the face of the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown.
This March, months before the Qusayr ultimatum, Islamist militants from the opposition’s Faruq Brigade had gone door to door in Hamidiya and Bustan al-Diwan neighborhoods of Homs, expelling local Christians.
Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Mursi opened his first public address after his inauguration on Saturday with the words “God is greatest, above everyone” and pledged to keep the country on a democratic course after Hosni Mubarak’s fall.
He spoke at Cairo University to ordinary people, politicians and generals. He told the latter they were now free to take their troops back to barracks to focus on national security.
(Via email–KSH).
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Yesterday I received a phone call from the Presidential Palace asking me to meet with the new President of Egypt, Dr. Mohammed Mursi. The President also invited the heads of other the Christian denominations for the meeting.
We were received with a warm welcome from the President. Each one of us gave congratulations to the President and he assured us that Christians are equal citizens in Egypt and it is his duty to make sure that every citizen receives his or her rights. The President also told us stories from the history of Islam of how Muslim leaders were very keen to ensure the right of citizenship of all Christians in Egypt.
I assured the President of our prayers for him and also asked him to make the topic of “National Unity” a priority. By “National Unity” I mean, of course, equality between Christians and Muslims and applying the rule of law on all citizens. He immediately responded that there were attempts to disrupt this National Unity in the past and create a strained relation between Christians and Muslims. He promised to do his best to ensure the rights of Christians, especially in regard to building churches.
I also asked the President to consider attending one of the meetings of “Beit el Aila” the House of the Family, which is an initiative of the Grand Imam to bring Christian and Muslims leaders together to discuss ways to enhance the religious harmony. He immediately agreed to host one of these meetings.
I shared this news with the Grand Imam who was happy to hear that the President will give a serious attention to “Beit el Aila.”
I came out of the thirty-five minute meeting very encouraged. I must say that this initiative of the President carries in itself the desire to assure Christians that he will be the President of all Egyptians.
We will continue to pray for him and for our beloved country Egypt.
May the Lord bless you!
Yours in Christ,
–The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis
Bishop of the Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt
with North Africa and the Horn of Africa
President Bishop of the Episcopal / Anglican
Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East
Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, will appoint a woman as one of his vice presidents and a Christian as another, his policy adviser told CNN.
“For the first time in Egyptian history — not just modern but in all Egyptian history — a woman will take that position,” Ahmed Deif told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday. “And it’s not just a vice president who will represent a certain agenda and sect, but a vice president who is powerful and empowered and will be taking care of critical advising within the presidential Cabinet.”
The majority of Egyptians have been holding their breath over the last few days. They were eagerly awaiting the announcement of the first president after the 25th of January Revolution. It was announced this afternoon, the 24th of June, that Mohammed Mursi won 51.7 percent of the votes, while his opponent Ahmed Shafiq won 48.3 percent. By this close margin, Mursi became the first Islamist President in Egypt….
We as a church accept the results of the election. We are committed to praying for Mursi, and we hope that he will fulfill his promises. We will continue to speak out if there is any deviation in our democratic journey.
We trust in God and His promises in the middle of this uncertainty and anxiety. He promised that the gates of Hades will never overcome His church. Please pray for our beloved country Egypt.
As the first freely elected president of Egypt, Mr. Morsi has a historic opportunity, but he faces a litany of challenges that could prevent him from becoming more than just a figurehead. He will have to spar with the generals, who, just after the election, stripped much of the power from the presidency, and he must overcome the doubts of those who chose his opponent ”” nearly half of the voters ”” and millions more who did not vote.
Mr. Morsi will also have to convince Egyptians that he represents more than just the narrow interests of the Muslim Brotherhood and to soothe fears among many that his true goal is to bind the notion of citizenship itself more closely to Islam.
“The challenges are very strong,” said Mohammed Habib, a former deputy chairman of the Brotherhood who has worked with Mr. Morsi. “Everyone is watching him through a microscopic lens.”
Egypt’s military rulers on Sunday officially recognized Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood as the winner of Egypt’s first competitive presidential election, handing the Islamists both a symbolic triumph and a potent weapon in their struggle for power against the country’s senior generals.
Mr. Morsi, 60, an American-trained engineer and a former lawmaker, now stands ready to become the first non-military figure to lead Egypt in generations. But 16 months after the military took over at the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Mr. Morsi’s victory is an ambiguous milestone in Egypt’s promised transition to democracy.
After a week of doubts, delays and fears of a coup since a public ballot count showed Mr. Morsi ahead, the generals have showed a measure of respect for some core elements of electoral democracy ”” they have accepted a political opponent over their ally, former Gen. Ahmed Shafik, after a vote that international monitors said was credible.
Mohamed Morsi was declared the new president of Egypt on Sunday, following the first democratic election in Egypt’s history.
The announcement triggered massive cheers and celebratory gunfire in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
Egypt’s ruling armed forces were on alert on Sunday as fears of violence mounted in the final moments before the state election committee is to name the winner of last weekend’s presidential election – either an Islamist or a former general.
The result of Egypt’s presidential election has been delayed, state television has said.
It had been scheduled to be announced on Thursday, but the Supreme Elections Commission (SPEC) says it needs more time to look into complaints presented by the candidates.
The two candidates, Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, both say they won.
As Egyptians celebrated the apparent victory of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi in Tahrir Square, the nation’s military power issued an addition to its constitutional declaration that limits the president’s powers in overseeing the military and puts legislative affairs in the generals’ hands.
“The military is clearly trying to turn the clock back to what existed under the Mubarak regime,” said Marina Ottaway, a Middle East analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “What is clear more and more is that the military sacrificed (Hosni) Mubarak to maintain the power of the old establishment.”
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood declared on Monday that its candidate Mohamed Morsy won the country’s first free presidential race, beating Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister and ending six decades of rule by presidents plucked from the military.
But shortly before the final result the generals who have run the country since the overthrow of Mubarak issued new rules that made clear real power remains with the army.
“Mohamed Morsy is the first popularly elected civilian president of Egypt,” the official website of Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party announced in a brief message.
Egyptians lined up for blocks in the sweltering heat on Saturday to choose Hosni Mubarak’s successor in this final step of Egypt’s lurch toward democracy.
The voters are faced with a polarizing choice between an ex-prime minister and a conservative Islamist to assume the position of Egypt’s first freely elected president in modern history.
Confusion reigns in Egypt after stunning court rulings threw the country’s awkward transition toward democratic rule into turmoil.
The decision sparked cries that Egypt’s military leaders have engineered a “soft coup” to thwart their longtime foes — Islamists who just weeks ago captured a majority of seats in the Egyptian parliament in the first election in Egypt in generations. The court’s decision dissolves parliament, and the military was quick to say it now controls legislative affairs in Egypt, actions that raised the prospect of renewed mass street protests.
The dizzying developments sent shock waves across Egypt just 16 months after a popular uprising toppled former President Hosni Mubarak and two days before Egyptians go to the polls to elect a new president.
France said Wednesday that Syria has descended into civil war and that all means, including force, should be used under international supervision to help restore peace.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he would propose that the United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution giving U.N. members a mandate to intervene in Syria, possibly as part of a military operation.
“The situation is now even more serious and abominable,” Mr. Fabius told reporters. He accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of having used children as human shields, echoing allegations in a report issued Tuesday by the U.N. He also said massacres have multiplied over the past few days in the Middle East country.
Regime forces pummeled Syrian cities from both the ground and sky Wednesday, opposition activists said, a day after the United States accused Russia of sending attack helicopters to Syria.
The Homs province city of Rastan came under fresh attack from planes and rocket-propelled grenades, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. At least two people were killed in Homs province Wednesday, the group said.
The Syria conflict fell deeper into crisis Tuesday as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly accused Russia of supplying attack helicopters to the Syrian government.
Her accusation came as international cease-fire monitors in Syria aborted a fact-finding trip after they came under assault by an angry mob and gunfire, and the top United Nations peacekeeping official said Syria was already in a state of civil war.
Those developments ”” coupled with a newly released United Nations report that accused the Syrian military of using Syrians as young as 8 as human shields for troops ”” overshadowed fresh diplomatic efforts by Kofi Annan, the special envoy to Syria, to advance a peace plan that has basically been ignored since it was put into effect two months ago.
The diplomatic stalemate in Syria has been highlighted by three recent developments. First was last weekend’s defiant speech by President Bashar al-Assad. Then there came the decision by armed Syrian opposition groups to disÂregard the nominal ceasefire brokered by Kofi Annan. Third was the formation of yet another group opposing the Syrian regime, thus fracÂturÂing the already split opposition still more.
This stalemate and the attendant confusion are nudging Syria into civil war. Syrian Christians, for their part, are left as helpless observers, unÂcertain whether to commit themselves to a besieged regime or to opposition groups, often indistinguishable from radical Islamists, which present differing and sometimes worrying visions of the future.