Khazen

Armin Rosen

Fighters loyal to a renegade general in Libya just seized a Central Bank facility in the coastal city of Benghazi that houses a reported $100 billion in cash and gold, according to The New York Times.

Libya's ongoing civil war has split the country between an Islamist-supported central government based in Tripoli and a rival nationalist administration held together by the renegade general Khalifa Hifter and based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

But the country had a couple of remaining bright spots, including Africa's largest proven oil reserves, an oil industry positioned just across the Mediterranean Sea from western Europe, and a reported $113 billion in foreign currency, according to Al Hayat.

This was down from the $321 billion in reserves from before the country's 2011 uprising but was still enough to ensure that salaries would be paid and that the country's oil infrastructure would continue to function.

By Mariam Karouny

(Reuters) - With a confident smile, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement warned in a recent interview that allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would strike back if Israeli attacks inside Syria continued."This attack shows that Israel has crossed the red line in the security war with Hezbollah, which means the rules have changed," said a senior security source close to the group.

  Few expected Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's comments to be put to the test so quickly. Three days later, an Israeli raid inside Syria killed several prominent Hezbollah figures, including a son of the group's late military chief, Imad Moughniyah.

The attack could have repercussions. It has put Hezbollah under pressure to respond, sources close to the group said, and also put a ceasefire between Israel and Syria at risk. The group's leadership has yet to comment.

  Maronite Bishop Samir Mazloum stressed on Wednesday that Bkirki encourages dialogue between the rival Christian parties, expressing hope that talks among …

  Last week’s Israeli airstrike that killed six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general in Syria’s Golan Heights has revived …

Khazen History

Historical Feature:
Churches and Monasteries of the Khazen family