Birth Pangs of Matthew 24, Jan. 21, 2007

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These next 5 are from Iran's offical newspaper. IRNA

 Iran, Saudi Arabia call for expansion of ties
Riyadh, Jan 21, IRNA

Iran-Saudi Arabia-Relations
Iran's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohammad Hosseini conferred here Sunday with Saudi Crown Prince and Head of Saudi Foreign Information Organization Sultan bin Abd Al-Aziz on expansion of mutual relations between the two countries.

At the meeting, the Iranian ambassador reviewed recent developments in the Middle East and called for expansion of ties between the two countries.

Iran and Saudi Arabia as two big countries in the Middle East could appear as one regional power and change the current equation in the region as well as in the Muslim world, he said.

The Saudi crown prince, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the friendly ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia and hoped to witness further expansion of all-out ties between the two countries.

"Now that the Middle East region is going through ups and downs, it is required that countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia play a much more active role in the global scene," he underlined.

Iran, Saudi Arabia call for expansion of ties

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 Iran, Belarus ministers hold 1st round of talks
Tehran, Jan 21, IRNA

Iran-Belarus-Talks
Visiting Belarus Defense Minister Leonid Maltsev and his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar on Sunday held their first round of talks.

Maltsev, heading a top-ranking delegation, arrived in Tehran on Sunday for an official two-day visit at the invitation of
Mohammad-Najjar.

Pointing to Iran's principled policy on expansion of cooperation with the friendly and independent states, the Iranian minister said, "Defense and security convergence and interaction with different states are on agenda of Iran's Defense Ministry."
He added that expansion of defense cooperation between Iran and Belarus showed determination of the two sides' political leaders and a very good sign for cooperation between two independent states.

"Belarus enjoys a special status in Iran's foreign policy.

"Although the sides have no common borders, similar point of view between Tehran and Minsk on regional and international issues has led the two nations to satisfactory cooperation," Mohammad-Najjar said.

He added, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has always had constructive cooperation with different countries through
negotiations during its 28-year political life (after victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979).

"It believes that understanding, friendship and cooperation serve the nations' interests and lead to peace, tranquility and development in the entire world."
Maltsev, for his part, said the visit by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to Iran in November, 2006 was a turning point in ties between Tehran and Minsk.

He expressed confidence implementation of agreements signed between the two sides during Lukashenko's Tehran visit would pave the way for bolstering bilateral cooperation.

The Belarus minister stressed Iran's special role in regional and international equations and voiced his country's readiness to promote defense cooperation between the two countries.

He condemned dual and discriminatory policies of certain countries on regional developments and said his country enjoys a common stance with Iran in this regard,

Iran, Belarus ministers hold 1st round of talks

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 Iran-Iraq ties based on mutual interests: FM spokesman
Tehran, Jan 21, IRNA

Iran-Iraq-Hosseini
Iran and Iraq enjoy high level of bilateral ties based on mutual interests, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said here Sunday.

He made the statement at his weekly press conference in response to a question on remarks made by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on possibility of limiting diplomatic exchanges between Tehran and Baghdad.

"Political will of the two countries' senior officials is based on promotion of relations.

"The US intends to damage or limit mutual ties," the
Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

He added that Iran and Iraq would continue their consultations, saying, "The level of mutual relations is determined by their common interests."
On the status of Iranian diplomats kidnapped by US troops in Iraq, he said based on latest information collected by Iran's embassy in Iraq, the kidnapped Iranian diplomats are kept in Iraq and have not left the country.

On a date for the visit of the French envoy to Iran, he referred to mutual talks between the Iranian and French foreign ministers held in Beirut last year, and said the visit has been confirmed but its date has not been specified yet.

Iran-Iraq ties based on mutual interests: FM spokesman

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 Iran, Syria discuss bilateral, regional issues
Damascus, Jan 21, IRNA

Iran-Larijani-Syria
Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani and the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday discussed bilateral and regional issues, including the current situation in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

At the meeting, it was underlined that discord between Shiites and Sunnis in the world of Islam has been initiated by the US to achieve other goals.

Meanwhile, Larijani and al-Assad urged the need for contribution of Iraq's neighboring states to promotion of stability and security in his country as well as peaceful coexistence among various ethnic groups.

Both sides called for establishment of tranquility and stability in Lebanon.

Larijani arrived in Damascus Sunday before noon on a short undeclared working visit.

Upon arrival at Damascus airport, in a brief talk to reporters, he referred to Syria as a friendly country, adding that the two sides constantly exchange views in various political and economic fields as well as mutual ties and regional developments.

Larijani said that to materialize stability and peaceful coexistence, Iran will continue exchanging views with all parties, adding that this will be on the agenda of his talks with Syrian officials.

Iran, Syria discuss bilateral, regional issues

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Iran keen to promote ties with Brazil
Tehran, Jan 21, IRNA

Iran-President-Brazil
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that Iran was interested in promotion of bilateral ties with Brazil given the fact that peoples of South American had many common points with Iranians.

The president made the remarks, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of submitting to Majlis the government's proposed budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year (starting March 21, 2007).

The rls 2290,000 billion annual budget bill, second submitted to the Majlis by President Ahmadinejad, shows a 19.6 percent increase compared with that of the current year.

Iran's foreign policy is based on establishment of cordial relations with other nations, said the president adding that Iranian officials will soon have high level visits to the South American states.

Asked about the date of his possible visit to Iraq, the president said agreements were made for the visit but "no exact date has been fixed yet.

Iran keen to promote ties with Brazil

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Islamic Jihad launches rockets at Israel

Sun Jan 21, 5:21 AM ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Islamic Jihad militants launched homemade rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday in retaliation for Israel's continuing military operations against their group in the West Bank.

The rocket attacks came despite a two-month-old cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.

The group said it fired seven homemade rockets toward the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashkelon. The Israeli army said several mortar shells had landed in empty areas in Israel on Sunday morning, causing no injuries.

Islamic Jihad launches rockets at Israel

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 Burma 'orders Christians to be wiped out'

By Peter Pattisson in Kayin State, southern Burma, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:02am GMT 21/01/2007

The military regime in Burma is intent on wiping out Christianity in the country, according to claims in a secret document believed to have been leaked from a government ministry. Entitled "Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma", the incendiary memo contains point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state.

The text, which opens with the line "There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised", calls for anyone caught evangelising to be imprisoned. It advises: "The Christian religion is very gentle – identify and utilise its weakness."

Its discovery follows widespread reports of religious persecution, with churches burnt to the ground, Christians forced to convert to the state religion, Buddhism, and their children barred from school.
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Human rights groups claim that the treatment meted out to Christians, who make up six per cent of the population, is part of a wider campaign by the regime, also targeted at ethnic minority tribes, to create a uniform society in which the race and language is Burmese and the only accepted religion is Buddhism.

In the past year, an estimated 27,000 members of the predominantly Christian Karen tribe were driven from their homes in eastern Burma.

In Koh Kyi village, in Arakan State, a monk backed by the military burnt down the local church. In another state, 300 monks were allegedly sent by the regime to forcibly convert the populace, all of whom belonged to the Chin ethnic group, which is mostly Christian.

The document, shown to The Sunday Telegraph by human rights groups, may have been produced by a state-sponsored Buddhist group, but with the tacit approval of the military junta. The regime has denied authorship of the document – which also calls for teenagers to be prevented from wearing Western clothes – but has made no public attempt to refute or repudiate its contents.

The dictatorship has long been accused of large-scale human rights abuses. In power since 1988, the generals annulled the National League for Democracy's sweeping 1990 election victory and jailed its leader, the Nobel peace prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi. She remains under house arrest. Last week she was accused of tax evasion for failing to hand over any of her Nobel prize winnings to the authorities.

Eha Hsar Paw, a Karen Christian, who fled her village while heavily pregnant to a refugee camp near the border with Thailand, said: "The journey here was very difficult. It was hard to leave our village, but if we had stayed there we would all be dead."

Burma 'orders Christians to be wiped out'

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Burma 'orders Christians to be wiped out'

Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them.

Galatians 1:23 They were only hearing it said, He who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the very faith he once reviled and which he set out to ruin and tried with all his might to destroy.