Archive for December, 2009
Pope knocked down by woman during Christmas mass
A woman assailed Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, yanking him to the floor as he entered St Peter’s Basilica to celebrate Christmas Eve mass.
Video footage showed the woman, wearing a red sweatshirt, leaping over a security barricade and rushing at the 82-year-old pope as he began leading the traditional procession to the vast basilica’s altar bearing a gold cross.
As a security guard tried to overpower her, the woman succeeded in grabbing Benedict’s vestments near the neck and yanking him down, according to video footage taken by a pilgrim broadcast on Sky News.
Several others fell over in the melee.
Prominent French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, broke a leg in the incident though he was “several metres (yards)” from the pope, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP, adding that the prelate was rushed to hospital.
Benedict was back on his feet within moments and went on to celebrate the mass with apparent calm and confidence. AFP
Iran confirmed that Bin Laden’s daughter at Saudi embassy
Iran is confirming a daughter of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is at the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, but says it doesn’t know how she entered the country.
A Saudi newspaper reported Wednesday that the 17-year-old, Eman, went to the embassy seeking refuge after eluding guards who have held her, her sister and four brothers under house arrest for eight years.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on a TV talk show Thursday that Iran had no idea she was in the country until it heard from the embassy. USA Today
Suicide bombing kills 5 in Pakistan
A suicide bombing on Thursday killed five people near a security checkpoint in this Peshawar that has borne the brunt of Pakistan’s rising Islamist insurgency, police and government officials said.
It was the latest in a deadly string of attacks in Peshawar, a northwestern city near the Afghan border and a rugged tribal region where the military has been battling the Pakistani Taliban. Authorities said they were not sure of the target of Thursday’s blast, which killed a police officer and civilians, but many recent attacks have targeted security forces in apparent retaliation for the military operation. Washington Post
Yemeni forces launch attack on al-Qaeda operatives
Yemeni forces, backed by the United States, launched an attack Thursday on a meeting of al-Qaeda operatives where a Yemeni American preacher linked to the suspected gunman in the Fort Hood attacks might have been present, U.S. and Yemeni officials said.
The strike on an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in southeastern Yemen killed at least 30 suspected militants and was the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources. One of the possible meeting participants was Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen and extremist preacher who exchanged e-mails with the Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 people at the Fort Hood Army base.
In a statement, the Yemeni Embassy in Washington said that Aulaqi was believed to be attending a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders, including the network’s regional leader, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, and his deputy, Said al-Shihri, a Saudi national and former detainee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Source: Washington Post
Hariri visited Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Naim Hassan
Following his meeting with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Al Akl Naim Hassan at his headquarters Verdun, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri emphasized in response to a question by a reporter about his visit to Syria that Lebanon has started a new positive phase in its relationship with its neighbor and opened a new page that should benefit the people of both countries.
Hariri was completing his visits to Lebanese spiritual leaders to brief them on his trips to Saudi Arabia, Denmark and Syria and to congratulate them on the holidays them
In addition to Hassan , the meeting was also attended by Druze judge Sheikh Gandhi Makarem, MP Marwan Hamadeh and hariri adviser Nader Hariri
March 14: Lebanon FM exceeded his authority in attempt to annul 1559
Fares Soueid , General Secretariat Coordinator of the March 14 alliance said during an interview with Future TV , that Lebanon’s security hinges on strengthening the country’s national unity, on following the constitution, and on implementing international resolutions that protect Lebanon from any Israeli aggression.
Soueid also said that Foreign Minister Ali Shami does not have the authority to annul UN Security Council resolutions as he pleases
In a statement issued issued yesterday after its routine meeting , the March 14 General Secretariat said that Foreign Minister Ali Shami is exceeding his authority by attempting to have UN Security Council Resolution 1559 annulled. March 14 dismissed Shami’s acts, saying they target other international resolutions, namely Resolution 1757 on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
Amal MP wants Phalange minister kicked out of cabinet
AMAL MP Ghazi Zoaiter called on Lebanese President Suleiman and PM Saad Hariri to dismiss Phalange Party’s minister Salim al-Sayegh for objecting to article 6 ( which deals with Hezbollah ) of the ministerial policy statement . The Phalange MPs will be challenging the statement before the constitutional council .
Government closed for Christmas and New Year’s Day
The Lebanese cabinet issued a statement on Thursday in which it stated that all institutions, companies and municipalities will be closed on December 25 for Christmas and January 1 for the New Year.
Assad ready but still waiting for the invitation to visit Lebanon
During a joint press conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday Syrian President Bashar Assad said he was ready to visit Lebanon at the appropriate time but after receiving an official invitation from Lebanese authorities.
“I am interested in visiting Lebanon at the appropriate time,” Syrian President Bashar Assad said in response to a question. “I haven’t received an invitation and (additional) steps should be taken by both countries.”
Assad said
“I visited Lebanon in 2002 when I was president. It is natural for another visit to Lebanon to take place. This is not unusual,” Assad added
He described Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s visit to Damascus as “successful.”
Bin Laden’s family under house arrest in Iran
Iman Bin Laden, the daughter of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, has sought refuge in the Saudi Embassy in Iran after succeeding in escaping Iranian guards watching over her. Iman disclosed in a telephone call to her brother Abdullah who lives in Syria that she and five of her brothers and sisters have been detained by the Iranian authorities since the US invasion of Afghanistan at the end of 2001. They are: Saad who is now 30 years old, Othman 25, Fatima 22, Hamzah 20, Iman 17, and Bakr 15.”
The 29 year old Omar Bin Laden who lives in Qatar told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Bin Laden family of his first wife Najwa, a Syrian living in Damascus, did not know that her daughter Iman and her other brothers and sisters had been alive all these past years until she contacted her family one month ago. He added : There are five in Saudi Arabia and three in Syria. Source: Asharq Al-Awsat
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