March 9, 2014, 11:12 AM
BEIRUT - About a dozen nuns (click here) held in Syria for more than three months have been released and are on their way to Damascus via Lebanon, a Lebanese security source and church officials said on Sunday.
The security source said the nuns had been transferred to the Lebanese town of Arsal earlier in the week and were on their way to Syria on Sunday.
The nuns went missing in December after Islamist fighters took the ancient quarter of the Christian town of Maaloula north of Damascus.
After being held in the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Thecla in Maaloula, they were reportedly moved to the town of Yabroud, about 13 miles to the north, which is now the focus of a government military operation.
Speaking to reporters at the border, Syrian Greek Orthodox Bishop Louka al-Khoury welcomed the news. "What the Syrian army achieved in Yabroud facilitated this process," he said....
There is no embedding. Everyone knows the circumstances of the people has deteriorated and it is a struggle to return quiet between different groups of people in Syria. Getting killed is unhelpful.
Will Campbell, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, March 9, 2014 12:25PM EDT
Last Updated Sunday, March 9, 2014 2:56PM EDT
Published Sunday, March 9, 2014 12:25PM EDT
Last Updated Sunday, March 9, 2014 2:56PM EDT
BEIRUT -- A Canadian freelance photographer (click here) was killed in the northern
Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, his sister and activists said, the
latest journalist to be killed covering a brutal war that has become the
deadliest place in the world for them to operate.
Ali Mustafa died along with seven others when government aircraft dropped crude bombs and one exploded where was standing with firefighters in the rebel-held Hadariyeh area of Aleppo city, said an activist who identifies himself as Abu al-Hassan Marea.
Mustafa's sister, Justina Rosa Botelho confirmed her 29-year-old brother's death after activists sent her a photograph of his corp....
I actually don't have a problem in stabilizing the border between Lebanon and Syria. Why? Because as long as Assad can prove he still has control while trying to settle so many turbulent issues in Syria, Hezbollah will stand down. If Hezbollah feels there is complete anarchy in Syria, they will continue to kill people without discrimination as to whom and the domestic environment in Syria will never settle down.
The military takeover of Zara, (click here) in Homs province, is the latest advance in the effort to block rebel supply routes from Lebanon.
BEIRUT — After weeks of fighting, the Syrian military has wrested control of a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border in the strategic province of Homs, military and opposition representatives said Saturday.
Ali Mustafa died along with seven others when government aircraft dropped crude bombs and one exploded where was standing with firefighters in the rebel-held Hadariyeh area of Aleppo city, said an activist who identifies himself as Abu al-Hassan Marea.
Mustafa's sister, Justina Rosa Botelho confirmed her 29-year-old brother's death after activists sent her a photograph of his corp....
I actually don't have a problem in stabilizing the border between Lebanon and Syria. Why? Because as long as Assad can prove he still has control while trying to settle so many turbulent issues in Syria, Hezbollah will stand down. If Hezbollah feels there is complete anarchy in Syria, they will continue to kill people without discrimination as to whom and the domestic environment in Syria will never settle down.
The military takeover of Zara, (click here) in Homs province, is the latest advance in the effort to block rebel supply routes from Lebanon.
BEIRUT — After weeks of fighting, the Syrian military has wrested control of a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border in the strategic province of Homs, military and opposition representatives said Saturday.
The seizure of Zara,
close to the main highway linking Homs city to the Mediterranean coast,
is the latest reported government advance in its effort to seal the
porous border with Lebanon, long a conduit for antigovernment fighters
and arms.
In a statement, the Syrian military hailed the seizure of Zara, which "had been used as a main passage for the terrorist groups that would come from Lebanon and head to neighboring areas to carry out their criminal operations."
The Syrian government routinely refers to rebels as "terrorists" and "mercenaries."...
Rebels are not terrorists. That is a reality Assad can't seem to come to grips with. Assad cannot simply kill ethnic settlements. He needs to seek peace with them. If Assad doesn't seek peace with the people within Syria he will have chronic war and killing.
Syrian rebels (click here) in battle-scarred Tal Khalakh have turned in their arms and signed loyalty pledges to the government. Similar truces, though tenuous, are spreading in some areas.
This momentum has to sustain and not simply a temporary truce. The cities and town of Syria first need food and clean water and then they need to rebuild their economy.
Fear between the ethnicities has spread like wildfire in the Mideast from Arab Maghreb to Syria. At one time the minority ethnicities had no choice but to be extremists and conduct violence to maintain a footprint. That has changed and the region needs to appreciate a balance of respect. Their economies are completely dependent on mutual respect and equity on the lands. Their pilgrimages are vital to their lives and devotions and it cannot be interrupted by violence and hatred anymore.
By Essam Mohamed
17 February 2014
In a statement, the Syrian military hailed the seizure of Zara, which "had been used as a main passage for the terrorist groups that would come from Lebanon and head to neighboring areas to carry out their criminal operations."
The Syrian government routinely refers to rebels as "terrorists" and "mercenaries."...
Rebels are not terrorists. That is a reality Assad can't seem to come to grips with. Assad cannot simply kill ethnic settlements. He needs to seek peace with them. If Assad doesn't seek peace with the people within Syria he will have chronic war and killing.
Syrian rebels (click here) in battle-scarred Tal Khalakh have turned in their arms and signed loyalty pledges to the government. Similar truces, though tenuous, are spreading in some areas.
This momentum has to sustain and not simply a temporary truce. The cities and town of Syria first need food and clean water and then they need to rebuild their economy.
Fear between the ethnicities has spread like wildfire in the Mideast from Arab Maghreb to Syria. At one time the minority ethnicities had no choice but to be extremists and conduct violence to maintain a footprint. That has changed and the region needs to appreciate a balance of respect. Their economies are completely dependent on mutual respect and equity on the lands. Their pilgrimages are vital to their lives and devotions and it cannot be interrupted by violence and hatred anymore.
By Essam Mohamed
17 February 2014
