Khazen

PARIS (AFP) - Lebanon's exiled Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun told AFP in an interview that he would be ready to assume his country's presidency should national consensus emerge after May elections. "The job that goes to the Christians (in the Lebanese political system) is that of president of the Republic," he told AFP. "If there is a national consensus, I will assume my responsibilities at that time," he added. "Without such a consensus, I will not stand as a candidate." Aoun, 70, is one of the key figures of the Lebanese opposition leading the campaign seeking to end Syria's political and military dominance of the country.

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer  VATICAN CITY - Black smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel chimney again Tuesday as the scarlet-robed cardinals inside failed in two more ballots to elect a new pope to build on John Paul II's legacy and heal deep rifts within the Roman Catholic Church. Several thousand pilgrims and tourists who packed St. Peter's Square to stare at the slender stovepipe jutting from the chapel's brown tiled rooftop gasped when the smoke appeared just before noon. The 115 voting cardinals sequestered in the chapel were to break for lunch and reconvene in the afternoon for the day's final session of secret balloting. White smoke

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer  VATICAN CITY - Cardinals from six continents made their solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel on Monday to convene the new millennium's first conclave

BEIRUT - Former Lebanese minister Bassel Fleihan died on Monday in a French hospital from wounds sustained in the February blast that killed ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in Beirut, the Hariri TV television station said. Fleihan, 42, died in a military hospital near Paris where he had been taken with serious burns immediately after the February 14 bombing in Beirut, the television reported before interrupting programs to play classical music.His death brings the toll from the blast to 20, including Hariri.A tent had been set up on Beirut

Khazen History

Historical Feature:
Churches and Monasteries of the Khazen family