Sunday, September 24, 2006
Can Lebanese Christians Stay Relevant?
Photo Caption:
Leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces militia Samir Geagea talks an annual mass to commemorate Christian militiamen killed during the bloody sectarian conflict at the shrine of the Virgin Mary in the town of Harissa, 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006. Tens of thousands of right-wing Christians turned out at a tumultuous rally north of Beirut Sunday led by a notorious anti-Syrian former warlord, in a show of strength two days after a massive gathering by the rival Muslim Shiite Hezbollah. Geagea, who was released from prison last year after serving more than a decade on multiple counts of murder dating to the war, backs the Western-leaning government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
Let us hope that the Christian sections of Lebanon can gain the upper had against these Islamic murderers...
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In Beirut, large rally against Hezbollah
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, AP writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- An anti-Syrian Christian leader dismissed Hezbollah's claims of victory in its war with Israel as tens of thousands of his supporters rallied Sunday in a show of strength that highlighted Lebanon's sharp divisions.
The rally north of Beirut came just two days after a massive gathering by the rival Shiite Muslim Hezbollah that attracted hundreds of thousands. The two sides have been at sharp odds over the future of the Lebanese government since this summer's Israeli-Hezbollah war.
Samir Geagea, a notorious former leader of a Christian militia, scoffed at Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's declaration that his guerrillas achieved "a victory" against Israel.
"I don't feel victory because the majority of the Lebanese people do not feel victory. Rather, they feel that a major catastrophe had befallen them and made their present and future uncertain," he said.
# posted by Publius @ 9/24/2006 02:38:00 PM 
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