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Gunmen kill six Lebanese soldiers on border with Syria: security source

The mother of Mohammed Suleiman, one of at least six Lebanese soldiers who was killed during an ambush by gunmen in Ras Baalbek, carries her son’s military clothes during his funeral in Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli December 3, 2014.

Lebanese military soldiers man a checkpoint, near the site of an ambush where gunmen killed at least six Lebanese soldiers, in the mountainous border town of Ras Baalbek December 3, 2014

 

Friends and family members carry the coffin of Mohammed Suleiman, one of at least six Lebanese soldiers who was killed during an ambush by gunmen in Ras Baalbek, during his funeral in Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli December 3, 2014

 

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Gunmen killed at least six Lebanese soldiers when they attacked an army patrol near the border with Syria on Tuesday, the army and a Lebanese security source said.

The source said the gunmen crossed from Syria to the mountainous border town of Ras Baalbek after dark and ambushed the patrol. Clashes between gunmen and a special army unit erupted after the attack and the army was able to retrieve the bodies of six of its soldiers.

"Six bodies just arrived at the local hospital of the town of Ras Baalbek," he told Reuters.

The army said in a statement that a "terrorist" group had attacked a patrol on a surveillance mission and killed six of the soldiers. The army had sent immediate reinforcement to the area and "took appropriate field procedures".

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Lebanese Bid Farewell to Senior Poet Akl

  The funeral service for poet and writer Said Akl was held on Tuesday at Saint George Cathedral in downtown Beirut. He passed away on Friday at the age of 102. Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi led the prayers. “Akl loved Lebanon and raised its name high,” al-Rahi said, adding that the poet “considered Lebanon an […]

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Lebanese in coastal towns join hands in unity

  BEIRUT: Residents across Tripoli, Sidon, Beirut and Tyre gathered near Lebanon’s coast Sunday as an NGO that calls itself Beirut Celebrations attempted to form a human chain stretching from the northern city of Tripoli down to the southern city of Tyre. In Beirut, a mass of people gathered near the Al Hammam Al Aaskary […]

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Police bust Sidon cell phone thieves

  BEIRUT: Police arrested Tuesday a gang operating in the southern city of Sidon that steals mobile phone SIMs from shops, the Internal Security Forces announced in a statement. Based on information about people selling extraordinarily cheap phone lines in Sidon, police arrested a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who admitted to stealing and selling SIMs and […]

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A challenge and a grace – life for Catholics in Turkey

By Marta Jiménez

.- Living as a Catholic in the majority Muslim country of Turkey can be difficult, but it can also be a blessing and a call to witness, says Mexican priest Father Ruben Tierrablanca Gonzalez. A Franciscan friar who has served for 11 years at St. Mary Draperis Parish in Istanbul, Fr. Tierrablanca spoke with CNA Nov. 27. “Living as a Christian in Turkey is a huge challenge and a grace,” Fr. Tierrablanca said. “A grace because we live where the Church has its roots and the presence of Christians is important, since God himself wanted his Church to expand here. And a challenge because it has become de-Christianized, in terms of population. We are very few.”

“We are a minority within a religious minority,” the priest explained. “Of the 100,000 Christians in Turkey, 65 percent are Armenians and Catholics number only 25,000.” Christians came to Turkey 2,000 years ago, centuries before the birth of Islam. The early Christian communities in Asia Minor were founded largely as the result of St. John’s preaching in Ephesus, St. Philip’s in Hierapolis, and St. Andrew, who is considered the evangelizer of the region. Today, however, Christians are the minority in Turkey, where some 98 percent of the country is Muslim.

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Islamic State crisis: UK gives £20m to keep Lebanon safe

 

 

 

 

The Lebanese army’s Brig Gen Ali Mourad got a WhatsApp message from the Islamic State (IS). It was short and to the point. "We are the heroes of Qalamoun," it said, referring to the mountains on Syria’s border with Lebanon, "and we’re going to kill you."

Gen Mourad has a robust attitude to this threat.

"We want them to come, these terrorists," he told me, at one of the heavily fortified positions paid for by the British government.

"We are waiting for them [here].

"When we see them, we shoot them, all the time."

We were at Tango Ten, the 10th of 12 new posts built so far with UK money and expertise along Lebanon’s border with Syria. It looked down over a dusty plain to the snow-covered mountain that is controlled by various jihadist groups and used by them as a base to launch attacks.

The Lebanese soldiers at Tango Ten say they come under fire almost every night. They used to crouch behind a few tyres filled with concrete, "eyes like saucers, gripping the 50-cal [heavy machine gun," said one of the former British army officers advising the Lebanese. Now they have proper defences, and morale is good.

Tango Ten had shades of Northern Ireland in the guard tower and Afghanistan in the Hesco barriers – which are earth-filled defensive walls. There was even a fleet of Land Rovers parked inside. The UK has spent some £20m to stop the jihadists from invading Lebanon.

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Lebanon media watchdog slams detention release policy

  BEIRUT: The Maharat Foundation, a media watchdog, slammed Monday a policy that forces detained bloggers and Internet activists to sign a “promise of silence” before being releases, saying such documents violated freedom of speech. Bloggers who are detained after a government official or a company file a complaint over comments on social media are […]

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Salameh: Oil price drop hurts Lebanese economy

  BEIRUT: The biggest obstacle facing Lebanon’s economy lies in the fall of oil prices, which reduces the remittances it receives from Gulf countries, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said. But he said the bank is introducing measures to prevent a crisis from erupting. “The most notable of economic challenges that Lebanon and the Lebanese […]

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Egyptian Court Drops Charges Against Ex-President Mubarak For Killing Hundreds Of Protesters

Reuters and Hunter Walker

 

 

An Egyptian court on Saturday dropped its case against ousted president Hosni Mubarak on charges of ordering the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolt that removed him from power.

About 800 people were estimated to have been killed as Mubarak’s security forces fought protesters prior to his resignation in February 2011. However, the charges against Mubarak only relate to the deaths of 239 protesters whose names were listed on court documents. 

Mubarak was initially convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for ordering the deaths of the protesters. That ruling was overturned on appeal and a retrial was ordered. 

The murder charges were made against Mubarak, his interior minister Habib el-Adly, and six top police officials who reported to el-Adly. The court also dropped the charges against El-Adly and his six aides.

Mubarak’s lawyers argued he was unaware of the full extent of the protests or the violent crackdown against them. Since his initial sentencing, Mubarak has claimed to have suffered a series of health problems and has been wheeled in to many of his court appearances on a hospital bed. 

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