U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered condolences to President Michel Suleiman on Thursday for the victims of the Lebanese army who were killed in the Abra clashes, reiterating Washington’s support for the military and the state.   Kerry praised in a phone call with Suleiman the army which proved to be the sole […]

Gunfights between the army and Sunni Muslim radical groups in the southern port of Sidon extended into Monday night after Lebanese soldiers stormed a complex holding gunmen loyal to a radical Islamist cleric and arrested dozens of his supporters. Violence also spread to the city of Tripoli in the north. Residents fear that Syria-related clashes […]

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army’s decisive and successful military push against gunmen of radical Salafist Sheikh Ahmad Assir in Sidon will eventually have good repercussions on the country’s security and stability, political analysts said Monday. But analysts said the Army’s operation, which led Monday to the capture of Assir’s complex in Abra, east of the southern […]

Khazen.org is PROUD of our Lebanese ARMY – Under Leadership of President Michel Suleiman and General Jean Qahwaji, Support from PM Mikati and Tamman Salam and President of the Parliament Nabih Berre.   Assir You can RUN but You CANNOT Hide! from our Lebanese Army                   Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad […]

  Dear Editor: I just don’t understand the recent stands of the U.S. government. Why do we need to be backing Syrian rebels? It seems we did not learn from Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Tunisia! All of these countries are being governed by Islamists. The Christians and minorities in general are being attacked daily. Their […]

  Lebanese Army command releases names of six soldiers killed in Sidon clashes: Captain Ali Adnan al-Masri, First Lieutenant Samer Geryes Tanios, Lieutenant George Elien bou Saab, First Class Private Rami Ali Khabbaz, Private Bilal Ali Saleh, and Private Elie Nicolas Rahme   Khazen.org sends its sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs.  

  President Michel Suleiman assured on Sunday that the army is “fully authorized” to strike the attackers in the latest clashes between the gunmen of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and the army’s forces in the southern city of Sidon. “The military institution is granted the full authorization to hit the attackers and arrest the perpetrators […]

  President Michel Suleiman demanded on Friday that measure be taken against Baath Party MP Assem Qanso over his recent accusation of high treason against the president. Suleiman made the request to caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi.   Qanso had directed the accusation against Suleiman in light of the latter’s filing of memorandums to the Arab […]

  Few would deny that Tripoli is the most strained of Lebanese cities and the most appealing to extremist and Salafist movements. Even so, the northern city has another face to display to its visitors: Churches are proof of how much the city’s Muslim inhabitant’s care for pluralism, even if it is more symbolic than […]

ALEPPO, Syria (Catholic Online) – A Reuters news report by Oliver Holmes and Alexander Dziadosz entitled Special Report: Syria’s Islamists seize control as moderates dither is must reading for anyone who wants to know what is really happening in Syria as the current US Administration makes choices which may make the matter worse for Christians in that ancient biblical land.

The news out of Syria continues to shock the conscience of anyone who still has one. However, the solutions, at least from a geopolitical perspective, are not the ones being considered by the Obama Administration. There is no doubt that the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, is committing atrocities against the Syrian people.  The allegations are that they have used chemical weapons against their own people.

However, much of the opposition is composed of Islamists who may be far worse than the regime. In the crosshairs of this escalating violence are the Christians. In April, Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Bishop John Ibrahim of the Assyrian Orthodox Church were kidnapped. They were traveling from the Turkish border to Aleppo, Syria. There has been a plague of kidnappings.

Among the strongest voices in the international outcry calling for the release of the Bishops is Pope Francis, a champion of peace who is also well aware of the dangers of militant, extremist versions of Islam. He referred to the kidnapping as "a dramatic confirmation of the tragic situation in which the Syrian population and its Christian community is living."