Patriarch Sfeir slams Syrian influence on constitutional changes
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Card. Sfeir says Lebanon has become &quot;a toy&quot; in the hands of the regional powers. According to many politicians and observers the existence of the country is at risk.
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The U.N. Secretary General also criticized Lebanon's Syrian-backed president, Emile Lahoud, for seeking to extend his term beyond the constitutionally set limit of six years.
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Pointing to Lebanon as a stable exception in a troubled neighborhood, President Bashar Assad has suggested an end to Syrian intervention in Lebanon would lead to chaos there.
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The State Department accused Syria on Friday of threatening members of Lebanon's parliament to force enactment of an extension of three years in the term of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
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BAGHDAD - Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister said yesterday that hard-line Sunni clerics outside Iraq share the blame for this week's bloodshed at a Shi'ite religious festival in Karbala because they issued religious decrees terming Shi'ites heretics.
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BEIRUT - Lebanonâs cabinet threw its weight on Saturday behind keeping the countryâs pro-Syrian president in office after his term ends, through a widely opposed change to the constitution.
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Syria could spark trouble in Lebanon in response to a U.N. Security Council vote to set up a tribunal to try the killers of Rafik al-Hariri, the former prime minister's son said on Thursday.
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Muslim rebels negotiating to end rebellion in the southern Philippines criticized the government on Sunday for naming a Roman Catholic priest to head its peace panel, saying the decision would downgrade the talks.
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Vatican relations with the Islamic world must be restarted from square one because Muslims insist on misinterpreting Pope Benedict's recent comments on Islam, Germany's top Catholic cardinal said in an article on Wednesday.
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A militant Islamic group inspired by Al-Qaida lashed out Monday against Syria's government, a day after a referendum was held on granting President Bashar Assad a second term.
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Officials in Jerusalem responding to statements quoting Syrian President Bashar el-Assad report there is nothing new in Syriaâs position.
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A furor in Turkey ignited by the title of a Christian spiritual leader on a U.S. embassy invitation has underscored concerns about the largely Muslim country's treatment of minorities two weeks before the European Union decides whether to open membership talks with Ankara.
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DAMASCUS Syria&#39;s state media lashed out on Thursday at US pressure for a United Nations resolution telling Damascus to stop interfering in Lebanon&#39;s presidential election.
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Lebanon's government drafted a law on Monday to amend the constitution to allow the army chief to become president, but the opposition condemned the move and said it would intensify the country's political deadlock.
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The leader of Lebanon's governing coalition has accused Syria of trying to prolong the political stalemate over the election of a new president.
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A religious revival is sweeping Syria, challenging the secular, ruling Baath Party to allow more Muslim influence in government and frightening many Syrians schooled for decades to fear political Islam.
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Turkey's devout Muslim prime minister said Wednesday that the constitution should be changed to remove a ban at universities on head scarves, the most potent symbol of the national divide over the role of religion in politics.