By Laila Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese authorities detained a hardline Sunni Islamist cleric wanted for attacks on the Lebanese army as he tried to flee the country on Saturday, security officials said.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir, a Lebanese citizen, was arrested at Beirut airport as he tried to depart using a forged passport, the officials said. The National News Agency said he wanted to travel to Egypt.

Assir rose to prominence with the onset of the civil war in neighboring Syria that has triggered instability in Lebanon by exacerbating sectarian tensions between its Sunni and Shi'ite communities.

catholicherald.co.uk

Church bells will be rung on the Feast of the Assumption to show solidarity with the persecuted Christians in the Middle East. So far six French bishops have decided the bells will ring out in all churches in their diocese on Saturday, August 15, the Feast of the Assumption.

Launched by Archbishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon, the initiative calls on parishes to gather at noon to show their support for persecuted Christians in the Middle East. It is hoped more churches will also take part, with Switzerland confirming Fribourg, Lausanne and Geneva will also ring their church bells tomorrow.

By Elise Harris and Angela Ambrogetti

Al-Hasakah, Syria, Aug 14, 2015 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After Islamic State militants on Tuesday freed 22 Christians they have held captive since February, a Syrian archbishop cautioned that while the news is good, it could be a distraction ahead of another major assault.“Perhaps we can do an analysis on why (the Islamic State) returned them, because one month ago they attacked Hassake to take it, (and) they couldn’t,” Jacques Hindo, Syriac Archbishop of Hassake-Nisibi, told CNA Aug. 12.

“Maybe, maybe, they are giving a signal that we are expecting another attack. It’s a little like a drug for us, to reassure us so that we aren’t vigilant, and then they’ll make a new, large attack.”Archbishop Hindo's diocese is centered in Syria's northeastern-most province, Al-Hasakah, which borders Turkey and Iraq. The archbishop collaborates closely with the city's bishop from the Assyrian Church of the East (historically associated with Nestorianism), whose people were those abducted in February.

Source : Mehr

Iran’s top MP Ali Larijani congratulated the Lebanese nation and Hezbollah on the anniversary of their victory over Israel in 2006.  In two congratulatory messages to Lebanese nation and resistance movement Hezbollah, Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani hailed the victory of the Lebanese over the Israeli regime in the 33-day war of 2006.

The messages were delivered to Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah and Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.  In part of his message to Nasrallah it reads “this great victory, undoubtedly, achieved by the Islamic resistance, people’s persistence and the unity of all groups and factions will pave the ground for greater victories.”