Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

Yemenite President Ali Abdallah Saleh: I Hope Syria Will Join the War; The Jews May Leave the Middle East; Arab Countries Should Allow Transfer of Weapons, People to Lebanon and Palestine

Following are excerpts from an interview with President of Yemen Ali Abdallah Saleh, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 1, 2006.

Interviewer: Do you expect the war to expand?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Yes.

Interviewer: to include Syria?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I would certainly hope that it expands. I would hope so, but the Israelis would not dare. They are frustrated in South Lebanon, so how could they expand the war? All Israeli cities would be within the range of the Syrian missiles. Syria is armed, and is ready for anything. It would be foolish, even more than foolish... I say in all honesty that the Israeli government is defeated. The Israeli army is also defeated by any standard. The Israeli government will fall. It will fall soon because it misjudged things. Israeli strategy is based on brief wars, on swift strikes. By now it has been 19 days, and the equation has changed. If Israel were to act foolishly and wage war against Syria, I expect Israel would find itself in an extremely difficult situation. Perhaps they would even leave the region, because their society is a mixture [of identities], full of contradictions.

[...]

Interviewer: Do you call upon the Syrian president to enter this war?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: No, I do not call upon Syria to enter the war. But if war is imposed upon it, Syria has the right to defend itself.

Interviewer: Regarding international forces...

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Why shouldn't we involve Syria?

Interviewer: I am asking because you said you were hoping for this.

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I hope that all the countries bordering with Israel, not just Syria, would enter the war. I meant the countries bordering with Israel. We will not enter the war officially, but we will open the borders to the fighters. We will allow the transfer of money and equipment, to support the Lebanese resistance and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

[...]

This war has become a duty incumbent upon us. Every Muslim has the individual duty to fight on this front.

Interviewer: Mr. President, do you support what has been said about incorporating Arab forces in the international force [in Lebanon]?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I haven't heard this, but it is forbidden. I haven't heard about this, but international forces must not serve as a buffer between the Israeli enemy and the resistance. It's forbidden.

[...]

Ali Abdallah Saleh: I completely reject becoming a police force protecting the security of Israel. Even the agreements between Israel and its neighboring Arab regimes were signed under certain circumstances and have greatly restricted us. Some of these agreements include restrictions. Restrictions that apply to the regimes - keep them, but let the people, the masses, act. Let the people donate money, equipment, weapons, and young men who will join the resistance.

Interviewer: Do you think that today...

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Wait just a minute... Just as we helped Afghanistan to fight the Communist occupation back then - why not help our brothers in Palestine and in Lebanon, who have Arab blood, with mujahideen, with fighters. Why don't we help them, and send send money and missiles, like we sent to Afghanistan in order to fight the Communists? This is my opinion, and I present it to the Arab public. This is what we must do. If we do not enter [the war] as regimes, and if we say Hizbullah is dragging us into a war of its choosing - a war that we, the regimes, did not choose... In such a case, we will not enter the war as regimes, as regular armies, with our air forces and our missiles, but we should allow people to volunteer.

[...]

Interviewer: The secretary-general of Hizbullah said that this is a battle of the nation. Do you agree with him?

Ali Abdallah Saleh: Yes, I believe this is a battle for the Islamic nation, not the Arab nation.

Interviewer: Shimon Peres said this was a matter of life and death for Israel.

Ali Abdallah Saleh: That's his opinion. Shimon Peres is a senile old man. All he cares about is being in power. He makes coalitions with whoever reaches power. He is a power seeker.

Yemenite President Ali Abdallah Saleh: I Hope Syria Will Join the War; The Jews May Leave the Middle East; Arab Countries Should Allow Transfer of Weapons, People to Lebanon and Palestine

[Shammu]

Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Calls upon Arab Leaders to Promote Cease-Fire in Meetings with the Americans

Following are excerpts from an interview with Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Manar TV on August 3, 2006.

Hassan Nasrallah: I want to say to our Lebanese people, the peoples of our nation, and the world, and to be very clear: What has happened since the first day of this war, and is still happening, even today - the killing, massacres, destruction, brutality, and barbarism - the ones responsible for all this are, first and foremost, Bush and his administration. In our opinion, Olmert and his government are no more than tools in this war. I'd like to stress this by saying that the blood of the women and children in Qana and the blood of all the elderly and the innocent civilians that has been spilled in Lebanon stains the faces of Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. This is the murderous, criminal, aggressive, and blood-shedding administration which continues to prevent the cessation of the aggression, by making conditions and trying to dictate them. This must be clear to every Lebanese, every Arab, to every Muslim, every Christian, and every honorable man in the world. I want to say things as they are, with no confusion. I say to the Lebanese: Today, there is a war, but when the war comes to an end, which will eventually happen, I want you never to forget that this is the same American administration, Lebanon's "friend," Lebanon's "ally," who "loves" Lebanon, whose heart bleeds for the Lebanese people, who wants the Lebanese people to live in an oasis of security and peace, and to become a model for democracy in the region. This is the same American administration on which some people pinned their hopes, and may still do so in the future. I hope we will not forget this in the days, months, and years to come. I want to emphasize that whatever the results of this war may be, Lebanon will never be American or Israeli. Lebanon will never be one of the posts of the New Middle East, which Bush and Condoleezza Rice desire.

[...]

To those who love Lebanon and want to help it, I say: You should pay close attention and note that the homes destroyed in Lebanon were destroyed by Israel, not by an earthquake. The people who were displaced from their homes were not displaced by a tsunami, nor by a flood, or a volcano eruption. It was Israel that got them out of their homes. It killed their women and children. Armed with an American decision, with American weapons, and American missiles, Israel created in this country this blood-soaked, destructive, and saddening scene.

[...]

We will not agree that anyone treat Lebanon like a miserable, humanitarian case - giving it medicine, rations of supplies, and some money. In any case, we are grateful to whoever gives this aid. But this does not express real love. In order to convey real love to Lebanon, you should make efforts to stop the aggression against it. You are capable of doing this. You can raise your voices, and more importantly, you can say in your private meetings with the Americans and others the same things you say in public. Today, the entire world knows - the Lebanese, the Arabs, the European countries, and the whole world - who prevents and thwarts the cessation of the Zionist aggression against Lebanon. It is Bush and his American administration.

Go, and prove your love to Lebanon over there. Raise your voice over there. Be real men, if only for a single day, over there, in order to save your thrones, and to save whatever is left of your honor. I'd like to say to the leaders of our Arab and Islamic countries that in the New Middle East there will be no place for your thrones. You have abandoned your moral and national responsibility, out of fear for your thrones. But in the New Middle East, you will have no thrones, and there is no certainty that you will even have countries. Your states will be divided, by the map of the New Middle East, into cantons and midget-states, on the basis of religion, sects, and race. That large country will not remain a large country, that rich country will not remain a rich country, thrones will not remain thrones, and seats will not remain seats. For your own sake, for the sake of your thrones, I say to you: Combine your humanity with your thrones, and act - even for a single day - to stop this aggression against Lebanon. From the first day, I said that I do not ask or call upon you to do anything. I still do not, but I want to protect you, our country, and our homeland. This is how those who want can help Lebanon.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Calls upon Arab Leaders to Promote Cease-Fire in Meetings with the Americans

[Shammu]

More and more Germans become Muslims
Islam-Institute: Number of converts rising steadily
Posted: August 5, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Wolfgang Polzer
© 2006 ASSIST News Service

SOEST, Germany – More and more Germans are converting to Islam. Last year approximately 4,000 persons became Muslims.

According to the Central Islam-Institute in Soest, the numbers have been rising since the turn of the century. Up to the year 2000 the annual number of conversions stagnated at 300, but it has been rising ever since.

The institute’s director, Salim Abdullah, has no plausible explanation for this trend, as he told the evangelical news agency "idea." In the past, converts were chiefly women, who married Muslims, or academics with an "affection for the Orient."

Today people from all walks of life are among the converts, according to Abdullah, who is a German born Muslim himself.

The Islamic Fellowship of Germany attracts especially high numbers of converts – about 500 per year. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Baden-Wuerttemberg (one of the 16 federal states) the fellowship is associated with the radical Muslim Brotherhoods.

According to Abdullah there are 3.2 million Muslims in Germany. Most of them are Turkish immigrants. Their religious life is flourishing. Abdullah expects the number of mosques to double within the coming years.

Currently there are 143 full-fledged mosques, with 128 more in the planning or building stages. In addition Muslims gather in 2,600 prayer and meeting places.

Approximately two-thirds of the 82 million inhabitants are church members. The Protestant Churches have 25.6 million members and the Roman Catholic Church 25.8 million. Approximately 500,000 Germans belong to smaller, often evangelical churches such as Baptists or Pentecostals.

It has been noted by the churches that interest in religion is rising in Germany, but it is not focused on Christianity. Today, the citizens in Martin Luther’ home country are equally fascinated by esoteric practices, Buddhism and Islam.

[Shammu]

 Muslims stage anti-Israel rally in Germany
Berlin, Aug 5, IRNA

Germany-Israel-Rally
Over 2,000 German-based Muslims staged an anti-Israel rally in the city of Hamburg, northern Germany, Friday afternoon condemning Tel Aviv's carnage in Lebanon and Palestine.

Large groups of German, Iranian, Turkish, Lebanese, Iraqi and Palestinian Muslims attended the gathering, chanting anti-Israeli slogans.

Carrying anti-Israeli banners, the protestors chanted slogans in support of the defenseless people of Lebanon, innocent children and women in particular.

Israeli ferocious air and ground attacks against civilian targets and infrastructure in Lebanon since July 12 have resulted in almost a thousand civilian deaths and dislocated millions of others.

The continuing Zionist regime's carnage in Lebanon has triggered the anger of Muslims all over the world.

In the past weeks, different groups of Muslims in Germany had staged demonstrations in various cities protesting Tel aviv's savage attacks on Lebanon and massive destruction of the country.

Demonstrating their anger over the massacre of innocent people in Lebanon, the demonstrators voiced their support for the Islamic resistance in Lebanon.

German public opinion has been hurt by the Zionist regime's brutality in Lebanon, especially its attack on the village of Qana in southern Lebanon which resulted in the killing of over 60 civilians, mostly women and children.

Muslims stage anti-Israel rally in Germany

[Shammu]

 President: Zionists crimes not even comparable to those of Mongols
Bojnourd, Northern Khorasan prov, Aug 2, IRNA

Iran-Ahmadinejad-Israel
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Wednesday said that Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and Palestine under the US supervision had not even been committed by Mongols including Changiz Khan.


Speaking to a large crowd of people in the provincial town of Farouj, he said that the Zionists have made even the most brutal men in the course of history look tame.

"The miserable captives and Zionist soldiers who were brought to the occupied land under various pretexts fell prey to the unsaturable greed of the Zionists.

"These savage arrogant powers, who love taking human lives and enjoy bloodshed, commit many crimes in these countries while chanting slogans of freedom and democracy," said the president.

The chief executive said that they make plans in their own evil interests behind closed doors and use the most advanced equipment including aircraft and rockets to kill human beings and continue their crimes.

Turning to the Zionists crimes at the Lebanese village of Qana as an example of the aggressors' crimes, he said that whenever the Zionists are defeated by the honorable Hizbollah combatants, they commit crimes in various areas in Lebanon and Palestine.

"Israel and its supporters should be aware that the flame ignited by them will just make them despicable.

"Given that they have disobeyed the commandments of God Almighty and have been haunted by the devil they have to face all these miseries," he said.

Ahmadinejad said that the Iranian people stand on the front line of monotheists and worshipers of God Almighty, are forerunners in seeking justice as well as models of freedom-seeking and monotheism, adding that he takes pride in the Iranian nation.

The president, accompanied by members of his cabinet, arrived here Tuesday afternoon.

Ahmadinejad's current provincial visit is his 17th to various provinces of the country since the start of his initiative of bringing the government closer to the people.

The president and his entourage have already visited the provinces of South Khorasan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Ilam, Qom, Hormuzgan, Bushehr, Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Golestan, Kohkiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Khorassan Razavi, Zanjan, Markazi, Qazvin, Hamedan and East Azarbaijan.

President: Zionists crimes not even comparable to those of Mongols

[Shammu]

 Iranian embassy: Israel the major threat to global security
Madrid, Aug 5, IRNA

Iran-Lebanon-Embassy
The Iranian embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, said on Friday that Israel is "the major threat" to regional peace and security and that of the world as a whole.

In a statement, a copy of which was sent to IRNA, the embassy strongly condemned the Zionist missile attacks on Lebanon, particularly the unjustifiable attack on the village of Qana in southern Lebanon, resulting in the killing of over 60 defenseless women, children and elderly on Sunday.

The statement called on the international community to act and save the defenseless people of Lebanon and Palestine.

Pointing to Tel Aviv's definace of all international rules and regulations and disregard of the value of human life, the statement urged peoples and governments all over the world to wake up to their responsibility of defending human life and defending the region's peace and stability.

Iranian embassy: Israel the major threat to global security

[Shammu]

Islamic, Arabic states vow to establish truce between Israel, Lebanon
Beirut, Aug 3, IRNA

Iran-Lebanon-Zionist
All Islamic and Arab states along with a number of western countries are trying to establish a truce in Lebanon, IRNA reporters said on Thursday.


In the past 24 hours, various diplomatic delegations have arrived in Lebanon to discuss the issue.

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan and Spain arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to seek an immediate truce.

Foreign ministers from the Islamic Republic of Iran and France arrived in Beirut earlier to help establish immediate truce.

Officials from Arab and Western countries held separate talks with high-ranking Lebanese officials to urge the need for an immediate truce and called for dispatching multinational and international forces to the south of Lebanon.

Foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt and Spain backed the seven clause plan proposed by the Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora calling for an immediate truce.

According to the daily Al-Safir, foreign ministers of Arab states attending the OIC meeting are to leave Malaysia for Beirut.

Foreign ministers from Arab countries are to issue a statement to support Lebanon in its confrontation with Zionist occupiers along with plan proposed by Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora.

The seven clause article proposed by Siniora consisted of establishment of an immediate truce, swap of PoWs between Hizbollah and Israel under the supervision of International Red Cross, withdrawal of Israeli troops to the border marked as 'UN Blue Line' in the south of Lebanon and repatriation of refugees to their homes, deployment of the UN forces in border lines until demarcation of borders between Lebanon and Israel, legitimizing Lebanese sovereignty of farms.

According to Al-Safir, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal announced on Wednesday that negotiations continue to hold a meeting among Arab foreign ministers in Beirut.

He tacitly, and for the first time criticized US stands in the ongoing crisis in Lebanon, saying Israel does not seek truce and they attack civilians.

Lebanese media declared on Thursday that an advocate of human rights organization in New York has sharply criticized Zionist regime for attacking civilians and the silence of some countries.

Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has criticized the West for its double-standard in dealing with current conflict between Israel and Lebanon and said if plans for truce fail, the flames of war would engulf the entire Middle East region.

According to the report, the OIC in its special meeting on Thursday in Putrajaya, Malaysia called for establishment of an immediate truce between Israel and Lebanon.

OIC has called UNSC to appeal for truce to meet regional and international peace and security.

Under the present circumstances that the Islamic and western countries are trying to put an end to this conflict, the Zionist forces launched a full-scale attack to Lebanon on Thursday but encountered Hizbollah's brave resistance.

Hizbollah's forces launched 30 missiles to the north of occupied Palestine which wounded several Zionists.

In a related news, Hizbollah forces fired 300 missiles on Wednesday and a total number of 1,000 missiles in the past three weeks on Zionists townships.

Islamic, Arabic states vow to establish truce between Israel, Lebanon

[Soldier4Christ]

More and more Germans become Muslims

This is a movement that is taking place worldwide. It is impossible to get exact numbers since places like the U.S. they can no longer ask what your religion is for government statistics but according to estimates made off of church growth and various polls Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world including here in the U.S.

[ibTina]

This is a movement that is taking place worldwide. It is impossible to get exact numbers since places like the U.S. they can no longer ask what your religion is for government statistics but according to estimates made off of church growth and various polls Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world including here in the U.S.

What a scary nightmare this is!

[Shammu]

More than 2000 protesters in Cairo demand to be allowed to fight with Hizbullah

More than 2000 people marched in downtown Cairo on Saturday, demanding authorities allow

them to fight in Lebanon in support of Hizbullah, police said. The crowd, including activists from several political factions, shouted anti-Israel slogans and vowed to support the
guerrillas. "We will all be resistance in the Arabs' struggle against Israel," they yelled, while some set Israeli and US flags on fire.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has explicitly said Egypt will not be dragged into the conflict militarily, but the crowd's demand was indicative of the growing support in the Arab world for the Hizbullah guerrillas.

More than 2000 protesters in Cairo demand to be allowed to fight with Hizbullah

[Shammu]

Spanish FM: Syria to exercise its influence on Hezbollah
By Yossi Lempkowicz    Updated: 04/Aug/2006 17:00

BRUSSELS (EJP)--- Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has declared that “Syria will exercise its influence on Hezbollah if circumstances change in Lebanon.”

“The Syrians are going to exercise all their influence on Hezbollah, but the circumstances and political and military context of Lebanon must change,” Moratinos told reporters after after a meeting Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials.

"Syria is part of the solution to solve regional complicated problems ... and common stances have been reached," Moratinos said, warning that the situation in the Middle East has become very dangerous and might lead to passive reflections against all.

He said that he reached an agreement with the Syrian side on the need to let all parties concerned take part in seeking solutions to the current crisis.

"We came to the conclusion that there is no military solution to any conflict or crisis in the Middle East and we have to call for immediate ceasefire and a political package," he said.

He said Syria backs Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s seven-point plan to end the conflict.

Siniora’s plan called for a ceasefire; the return of refugees; the exchange of Lebanese and Israeli prisoners; the need to settle the issue of the disputed Shebaa Farms region; extending the state’s control over all national territory; limiting arms possession to state institutions; boosting UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon; and reviving the 1949 armistice agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

"I will go back to Madrid with more hope after I received a constructive and fruitful response from Syria", Moratinos said, adding that he would brief the Finnish EU presidency, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on his talks here.

EU’s contacts

According to diplomatic sources in Brussels, Moratinos’s visit to Damascus after talks with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, is viewed as an attempt by the EU to reach out to Hezbollah’s main backers in the region, Iran and Syria.

At an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict earlier this week, Solana said : “We have contacts with all the states in the region, including Syria and Iran.”

Solana has been asked by the EU Council to remain engaged and to remain in contact with all relevant parties and to be ready to contribute to a political solution and to the peace process,” said a statement issued after the EU meeting.

Solana said Moratinos, a former EU Mideast envoy, would be talking to the Syrians “doubtless on behalf of all of us, including myself”.

“There can be no effective solution without Syria,” Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said after EU’s meeting.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy met his Iranian counterpart, Manoucher Mottaki, in Beirut last Sunday and raised critics by saying Iran “plays a stabilising role in the region”.

He later sought to clarify his remark, saying: “Iran has a share of responsibility in the current situation, so Iran can play a role in its solution, and can therefore contribute to stabilisation in the region.”

But beyond making Syrian and Iranian leaders feel respected, it is not clear what the Europeans can offer to persuade Damascus or Tehran to lean on Hezbollah to stop firing missiles into Israel or accept eventual disarmament.

Spanish FM: Syria to exercise its influence on Hezbollah

[Shammu]

6 mortar shells launched at Israel, land in Syria
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Six mortar shells that were fired from Lebanon on Saturday cleared the Golan Heights and landed in Syrian territory.

The IDF assessed that the launch, the second that landed in Syria in the past 24 hours, was meant to encourage Damascus to join the fight against Israel.

6 mortar shells launched at Israel, land in Syria

[Shammu]

British marchers urge end to Lebanon war

By Adrian Croft Sat Aug 5, 9:47 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands marched through London to demand a halt to the Lebanon war on Saturday as the British government tried to deflect criticism that it has failed to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has come under fire at home for following U.S. President George W. Bush's lead on the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas and refusing to call for an immediate halt to hostilities.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through central London holding placards reading "End Israeli crimes in Lebanon" and "Freedom for Palestine." Police said around 15,000 people were marching but organizers put the number at more than 100,000.

The Stop the War Coalition, a group formed to oppose the U.S.-led "war on terror" which helped organize the march, urged demonstrators to pile children's shoes near Blair's residence in protest at the death of children in the war.

Marchers will also hand in a petition to Blair urging the government to call for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Despite Blair's decision to delay his holiday to take part in negotiations on a U.N. resolution aimed at stopping the fighting, members of his Labour Party kept up attacks on his stance.

"Our prime minister has failed to represent the country's feelings during the conflict," Mohammad Sarwar, one of a number of Labour legislators calling for parliament to return from its summer break to discuss the crisis, told BBC radio.

CABINET SPLIT DENIED

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton, speaking for the government, denied the cabinet was split and tried to placate critics by saying Blair was making efforts to stop the war.

"The prime minister has made it very clear that the present situation simply cannot continue ... The violence is unacceptable," Hutton told the BBC, adding that Blair was trying to bring the conflict to an end as quickly as possible.

Israel has responded to Hizbollah rocket attacks by pounding Lebanon with devastating air strikes. At least 734 people in Lebanon and 75 Israelis have been killed.

Hutton said London had made clear to Israel that its actions must be proportionate and comply with international law.

Minister and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw fueled reports of cabinet divisions last week when he called Israel's bombing of Lebanon "disproportionate." Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have avoided similar language.

A spokesman for Blair said he had talked to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday and would make further calls on Saturday. "The prime minister believes progress is being made in New York (at the United Nations)," he said.

Worried by Blair's plunging popularity, some Labour politicians were already urging him to quit sooner rather than later, after he said he would not stand in the next election expected in 2009.

Blair's stance on the Lebanon crisis has further weakened his authority, potentially hastening his departure from office.

In another threat to Blair's Labour Party, The Guardian newspaper reported that relatives of British soldiers killed in Iraq planned to form a new political party to stand against Labour ministers at the next general election.

British marchers urge end to Lebanon war

[Shammu]

Olmert says Israel may target Hezbollah leader

Sat Aug 5, 7:43 AM ET

BERLIN (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not rule out an assassination attempt on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by the Israeli military, in an interview with a German newspaper to be published Sunday.

Olmert told the weekly Welt am Sonntag that the normal rules of war did not apply to Nasrallah, who was not a head of state but "the chief of a terrorist organisation".

Nasrallah could not expect to be treated like a legitimate leader, Olmert said, while adding that he was not waging a "personal war against anyone in particular."

Israel has killed dozens of leading Palestinian militants in targeted strikes which have also left civilians dead and aroused international criticism.

But Welt am Sonntag said that some 80 percent of Israelis were in favour of the death of the fiery Shiite cleric.

Olmert again hit back at critics of Israel's massive response to last month's capture of two of its soldiers by the Lebanese guerrilla group which has killed hundred of civilians and devastated a large part of Lebanon.

"Where do they get the right to lecture Israel?" he demanded, recalling the NATO air strikes on Kosovo in 1999.

"European countries killed 10,000 civilians," he charged, "and none of those countries had been the target of any missiles."

Olmert also repeated a statement made to Germany's Der Spiegel weekly that Israel would be happy to see German troops in a proposed international force to take over in southern Lebanon.

But German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier warned against a hasty decision for or against sending German troops to the region.

Most German politicians are against such participation for historical reasons linked to Nazi Germany's elimination of the Jews and the possibility of German troops finding themselves in conflict with Israeli forces.

The government's official position is to wait until the question arises with an agreement on an international force.

Olmert says Israel may target Hezbollah leader

[Shammu]

Syria's Christians rally behind Hizbollah
Fri Aug 4, 2006 10:48am ET135

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Seventy-seven-year-old Mona Muzaber lights a candle for Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the Orthodox Church of the Cross in the center of Damascus.

"I love him. I never felt Nasrallah was a religious zealot. He is a patriot who doesn't seek personal gain," she said. "I light a candle daily for him to remain under God's protection."

Israel's offensive against Lebanon has brought Christians in neighboring Syria closer to Nasrallah, a Shi'ite Muslim, reviving Arab nationalist feelings and blurring sectarian divisions.

Bishops and priests say Syria's Christians, a devout community of around three million out of a population of 18 million, identify strongly with Nasrallah's battle with Israel, which has occupied Syria's Golan Heights since 1967.

"Pray for the resistance, pray for Hassan Nasrallah. He is defending justice," Father Elias Zahlawi told the congregation at special mass held at the Lady of Damascus, a Catholic church.

Across Damascus Christians, like Muslims, sit glued to Nasrallah's al-Manar television, receptive to his portrayal of the war as one in defense of all Arabs, as well as Muslims.

At the biblical-era Straight Street, Khaldoun Uzrai hung the yellow flags of Hizbollah all over his liquor and grocery shop.

"We are Arabs at the end of the day. Nasrallah is one of our own. He is realizing our dreams," Uzrai said.

At least 720 people have been killed in Lebanon and 750,000 have been displaced by the conflict ignited by a cross-border raid in which Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers. Seventy-two Israelis have been killed, many by Hizbollah rockets.

NOT ENOUGH ROCKETS

Iyad Elias, a doctor working at a hospital in the mixed Jaramana district, wishes Hizbollah could unleash more rockets on the Jewish state.

"Nasrallah transcends religion and ethnicity. Unfortunately he does not have the firepower Israel has," he said.

Jaramana has been a main receiving center for thousands of Lebanese refugees, mostly Shi'ite from the south. They have been housed in schools, mosques, monasteries and private homes.

Thabet Salem, a leading political commentator, said Nasrallah brought out nationalist feelings which have been dormant for years as Israel dealt the Arabs a series of defeats.

"Nasrallah extols the Muslim nation, but he is also seen as a symbol of a national liberation movement. No wonder Christians feel such affinity to him," Salem said.

A leading Christian businessman called Nasrallah "the uncrowned Arab king".

"Unlike most Arab rulers, Nasrallah is not an agent. After all he sacrificed his son," the businessman said, referring to Hadi Nasrallah, who was killed at 18 fighting occupying Israeli forces in south Lebanon.

Syria's Christians rally behind Hizbollah