Russia to support Lebanon in refugee return: Russian minister

The Daily Star - BEIRUT: A Russian official said that Russia will support Lebanon in returning Syrian refugees to their country, during a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister for Middle Eastern Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov said the pledge came “in light of the developments taking place,” according to a statement released by Aoun’s office, which did not elaborate on any plans to this end. Bogdanov’s comments came during a meeting with Aoun in the Saudi city of Dhahran, after the Lebanese delegation arrived for the 29th Arab League summit being held there Sunday Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose regime has been supported on the ground by Hezbollah for at least the last five years of Syria’s civil war. Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement is allied with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Aoun spoke with Bogdanov about the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, calling for a “gradual return” as, he claimed, “several areas are now enjoying security stability after the fighting ended.”

The Lebanese government estimates roughly 1.5 million Syrians are residing in Lebanon, while the number registered with the U.N. refugee agency in Lebanon dropped below 1 million by the end of last year. After the meeting, Bogdanov was also quoted as saying that bilateral relations had been discussed, in addition to developments in the region and the “crisis that the Arab family is witnessing at this stage.” They also discussed security and combating terrorism, Bogdanov said. A date for an official visit by Aoun to Russia will be set after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration on May 7, Bodanov added. Putin was reelected last month with over 75 percent of the vote.

'Mission Accomplished!': Trump praises the US, UK, and France for Syrian military strikes

by Sonam Sheth and David Choi -businessinsider.com - President Donald Trump on Saturday praised the US military, the UK, and France for a series of military strikes on Syria that were carried out late Friday. "A perfectly executed strike last night," Trump tweeted Saturday morning. "Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!" He added: "So proud of our great Military which will son be, after the spending of billions of fully approved dollars, the finest that our Country has ever had. There won't be anything, or anyone, even close!" The joint operation, led by the US, was undertaken in response to a devastating chemical attack in the rebel-controlled Damascus suburb of Douma, which killed dozens of people earlier this month. The attack is believed to have been ordered by the Syrian government, spearheaded by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Friday's military campaign targeted research facilities that are thought to have been involved in the production of chemical weapons. The operation drew a swift and harsh response from Russia, a key Syrian ally. Russia has several military bases and troops in Syria, and the US said Friday that it did not coordinate with or notify Russia of the strikes.

The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed the allegations against Syria and said its own experts found no "trace of chlorine or any other chemical substance used against civilians." Following the strikes, Russia called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to address the military campaign. A Security Council diplomat said the body would meet later Saturday. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the operation an "act of aggression" that will only serve to worsen the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Meanwhile, Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to the US, said in a statement Friday that "the worst apprehensions have come true. Our warnings have been left unheard. A pre-designed scenario is being implemented." "Again, we are being threatened," Antonov continued. "We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences. All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris."

During a week of tense sabre-rattling, Russian officials periodically warned the US that a military response may spiral out of control to war. "Insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible," Antonov said in his statement responding to the US-led military action. "The US — the possessor of the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons — has no moral right to blame other countries." However, Defense Secretary James Mattis seemed to have anticipated Russia's rhetoric and addressed it during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Friday evening. "Based on recent experience, we fully expect a significant disinformation campaign over the coming days by those who have aligned themselves with the Assad regime," Mattis said.

The United Nations Security Council rejected a resolution Saturday from Russia that would have condemned "the aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic by the US and its allies in violation of international law and the UN Charter." Russia, China and Bolivia voted in favor of the draft resolution, Reuters reported. Eight countries voted against the draft and four abstained. In order to pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the US, France, China, Russia, or the UK. Russia has forcefully denounced a series of joint military strikes that the US, UK, and France launched against Syria late Friday.

Lebanese cardinal warns against ‘new drums of war’ in Syria

by cruxnow.com BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai appealed to world leaders to stop the war in Syria and to work for comprehensive peace through diplomatic means. “As the great powers are beating the drums of a new war against Syria, we regret the absence of a language of peace from the mouths of senior officials in our world today,” said Cardinal Rai, patriarch of Maronite Catholics, in an address April 12 directed to the international community. In reference to the stance of world leaders toward Syria, the cardinal said, “Most tragically, their hearts are devoid of the slightest human emotion toward the millions of innocent Syrians who have been forced to flee their land under the fire of war, its crimes, destruction, terror and violence.” “We appeal to the conscience of the great powers and the international community to work to end the war and to bring about a just, comprehensive and lasting peace through political and diplomatic means - not military,” Rai stressed. “The people of the Middle East are entitled to live in peace and tranquility. The declaration of war is very weak,” he said, adding that peacebuilding is the ultimate in heroism. “Among the great powers, you will remember that we all know how to start wars, but we do not know how they end.” Noting that Lebanon has hosted more than 1.1 million refugees, or nearly half of its population, “at a time when most European countries have closed their doors,” Rai continued: “We ask today, did these countries which are beating the drums of war bear a fraction of the hardship due to the displacement of the Syrian population?” Rai’s appeal came amid threats of military retaliation against Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians in the Ghouta region. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that “missiles will be coming.” But on the morning of April 12, Trump tweeted, “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” Opponents of unilateral U.S. action scheduled an emergency closed-door meeting of the U.N. Security Council April 12, and Britain also scheduled an emergency Cabinet meeting, The Associated Press reported.

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Lebanon refuses use of its airspace for attacking Syria

BEIRUT, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's President Michel Aoun condemned Thursday Israeli airstrikes in Syria, saying the country's use of Lebanese airspace was an "attack on our sovereignty," the National News Agency (NNA) reported. Aoun reiterated during a cabinet session an announcement made by the Foreign Ministry two days prior to that Lebanon was set to make a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council over Israel's illegal use of Lebanese airspace to attack Syrian targets. Prime Minister Saad Hariri also commented on current tensions during the session, saying "we are working to free Lebanon from any potential problems it might incur as a result of regional developments." On Monday, Russia's Defense Ministry said that two Israeli F-15 warplanes had launched eight guided missiles from Lebanese airspace, targeting an air base near Syria's Homs.

President of France calls on Catholics to engage politically

By Courtney Grogan Paris, France, (CNA/EWTN News).- French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the importance of a Catholic voice in the country’s political debates, particularly on bioethical issues, in an address to the French bishops April 9. “What I want to call you tonight is to engage politically in our national debate and in our European debate because your faith is part of the commitment that this debate needs,” Macron told French bishops in a rare public meeting between Church and government leaders in France. While France was once referred to as the “eldest daughter of the Church,” the country’s legal secularism has required strict neutrality of the state in religious matters since 1905. In his speech Monday, however, Macron spoke of the important philosophical need for the Church’s voice. “What strikes our country ... is not only the economic crisis, it is relativism; it is even nihilism,” said Macron. “Our contemporaries need, whether they believe or do not believe, to hear from another perspective on man than the material perspective,” he continued, “They need to quench another thirst, which is a thirst for absolute. It is not a question here of conversion, but of a voice which, with others, still dares to speak of man as a living spirit.”

Father Joseph Koczera, an American priest based in Paris, told CNA that in some ways, Macron’s speech “was quite remarkable.” “This is a clear challenge to a particular style of French secularism that suggests that, [since] the state must remain neutral, perspectives informed by religion should not be invoked in political debates,” Koczera said. Macron stressed that “Secularism does not have the function of uprooting from our societies the spirituality that nourishes so many of our fellow citizens.” “To deliberately blind myself to the spiritual dimension that Catholics invest in their moral, intellectual, family, professional, social life would be to condemn me to having only a partial view of France; it would be to ignore the country, its history, its citizens; and affecting indifference, I would derogate from my mission,” he said. Macron’s speech comes as bioethical debates continue in France, with parliament preparing to reform its bioethics laws. “The new law will probably try to authorize two main things, against which most of French Catholics are fighting: euthanasia and IVF for single women and lesbian couples,” Guillaume de Thieulloy, editor of the French Catholic blog Le Salon Beige, told CNA. Thieulloy pointed out that Macron has not spoken publicly about his views on euthanasia, but he supported the expanding of France’s in vitro fertilization law - which currently limit IVF to infertile heterosexual couples - during his 2017 presidential campaign. In his speech, Macron praised the Church’s contribution to society, particularly its service to “the sick, the isolated, the decommissioned vulnerable, abandoned, disabled, prisoners, regardless of their ethnicity or religion.”

The French president also remarked on Catholic leaders’ coherence in seeing the human dimension of both bioethical and migrant issues. “You consider that our duty is to protect life, especially when this life is defenseless. Between the life of the unborn child, that of being on the threshold of death, or that of the refugee who has lost everything, you see this common trait of deprivation, nakedness and absolute vulnerability,” said Macron. “I believe in a political commitment that serves the dignity of man,” he said. “The link between Church and State has deteriorated, and that it is important for us and for me to repair it,” he told French Catholic leadership. Archbishop Georges Pontier of Marseille, president of the French bishops conference, offered remarks to President Macron in a separate speech. He highlighted euthanasia in his comments, quoting a long passage from Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, Caritas in Veritate: “A particularly crucial battleground in today's cultural struggle between the supremacy of technology and human moral responsibility is the field of bioethics, where the very possibility of integral human development is radically called into question … Faced with these dramatic questions, reason and faith can come to each other's assistance. Only together will they save man. Entranced by an exclusive reliance on technology, reason without faith is doomed to flounder in an illusion of its own omnipotence.” The archbishop questioned the president, “Can one describe as ‘care’ the act of giving death?” and emphasized that “society must offer opportunities for life, friendship, tenderness, compassion, solidarity.” Only time will tell the effects of Macron’s speech, Father Koczera told CNA. “The relationship between the Catholic Church and the French state is a very complex one,” he explained. “Though many French Catholics have welcomed the President’s words, it remains to be seen what practical effect the speech will have. Particularly since last year’s presidential election, when many politically-engaged Catholics supported the unsuccessful campaign of François Fillon, the role of Catholics in public debates has seemed uncertain,” Koczera explained. “On a practical level, it also makes a difference that a majority of French citizens are still baptized Catholics – even though the number who practice their faith is much smaller, the Church still plays a role in what some call the roman national, the historical narrative that provides a cohesive sense of national identity.” Emmanuel Macron, a baptized Catholic, was elected president of France in May 2017. Upon his election, Pope Francis sent Macron a telegram urging him to strengthen France’s Christian roots and “respect for life.” Macron is the youngest president to ever be elected in France.

Lebanese Amy chief thanks Kuwaiti emir for military funding

Daily Star.com.lb -- BEIRUT: Lebanese Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun met with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah in Kuwait City Wednesday morning, thanking the leader for “continued support to Lebanon and its Army,” a Lebanese Army statement reported. Aoun is on the second and final day of an official visit to the Kuwaiti capital to follow up on the monetary support that was pledged by the Gulf country to Lebanon at the Rome II conference last month. The conference took place on March 15 and saw dozens of countries pledge support for Lebanon’s military and security forces. The Army’s statement did not provide details of Aoun’s meeting with Sheikh al-Sabah. The Lebanese Army chief is “on an official visit to follow up on what was pledged at Rome II,” an Army source told The Daily Star Tuesday. Aoun's visit also comes less than one week after Kuwait pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in soft loans to support Lebanon's economy and infrastructure at a separate conference in Paris. Tuesday saw Aoun talk bilateral ties and mutual cooperation with top Kuwaiti government officials.