KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
), the meeting of the
Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organisational and Economic
Problems of the Holy See took place in Vatican City, presided over by
Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone . Particularly noteworthy
was the visit on Wednesday 3 by Pope Francis, who addressed the speakers
and engaged in a brief dialogue, reiterating the aims and purpose of
the Council and inviting the continuation of periodical meetings.The
following Cardinals participated in the meeting: Joachim Meisner,
archbishop of Köln (Germany), Antonio María Rouco Varela, archbishop of
Madrid (Spain), Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of Dar-el-Salaam (Tanzania),
Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of México (México), Wilfrid Fox
Napier, o.f.m., archbishop of Durban (South Africa), Angelo Scola,
archbishop of Milan (Italy), Telesphore Placidus Toppo, archbishop of
Ranchi (India), George Pell, archbishop of Sydney (Australia), Agostino
Vallini, vicar general of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome, John
Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong (China), Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino,
archbishop of Caracas (Venezuela), Odilo Pedro Scherer, archbishop of
São Paulo (Brazil).The Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the
Holy See was represented by the president, Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi,
the secretary, Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, and the Accountant
General, Stefano Fralleoni. Antonio Chiminello, director of the State
Accounting Administration, spoke on behalf of the Governorate of Vatican
City State.The Governorate of Vatican City State and the
Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) were
represented by: Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello and Msgr. Giuseppe Sciacca,
president of the Commission of Cardinals for Vatican City State and the
secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State respectively,
Cardinal Domenico Calcagno and Msgr. Luigi Misto, president and
secretary of APSA respectively.Upon invitation by the Cardinal
Secretary of State, the following speakers intervened: Fr. Federico
Lombardi s.j. and Alberto Gasbarri, director general and administrative
director of Vatican Radio respectively; Marco Pacciarini, Lorenzo Suraci
and Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, members of the Commission charged
with formulating a technical appraisal of Vatican Radio; Cardinal
Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of
Peoples (Propaganda Fidei), who gave a report on this latter Dicastery
and on the Pontifical Missionary Works; Peter Sutherland, consultor for
APSA, who explained the current macroeconomic situation and the
investment policies of the aforementioned Administration; Ernst Von
Freyborg, president of the IOR, who in conformity with article 25 § 2 of
the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, gave a presentation to the
Cardinal Fathers on the Institute’s current situation, followed by a
broad discussion on suitable clarifications. In addition, Msgr. Luigi
Mistò spoke about the problem of safeguarding and appraising the
patrimony of ecclesiastical entities.Following an introduction by
the Cardinal Secretary of State and Cardinal Versaldi, the accountant
general first read the report on the consolidated financial statement of
the Holy See for the year 2012 and subsequently that of the Governorate
of Vatican City State. Msgr. Vallejo Balda instead focused on four
areas – the Holy See-Roman Curia, the Holy See-Pastoral, the Holy
See-Charity and Vatican City State – which together form the integrated
financial statement of the two entities in question.The consolidated
financial statement for the Holy See for the year 2012 closes with a
profit of € 2,185,622, due mainly to good performance in financial
management. The most significant categories of expenditure are those
regarding the cost of personnel, numbering 2,823 units on 31 December
2012, means of social communication considered in their entirety, and
the new property taxes (IMU) which resulted in an increase in
expenditure of € 5,000,000 compared to previous figures.The
Governorate has an autonomous Administration independent from
contributions of the Holy See and, through its various Directions,
provides for the needs relating to the management of the State. The 2012
financial statement, while affected by the global economic climate,
closed with a profit of € 23,079,800, an increase of over a million
euros compared to that of the previous year. A total of 1,936 were
employed on 31 December 2012.Peter’s Pence, the contributions
offered by the faithful in support of the Holy Father’s charity, passed
from USD 69,711,722.76 in 2011, to USD 65,922,637.08, registering a
reduction of 11.91%. Further contributions to the Holy See on the part
of the Institutes of Consecrated Life, Societies of Apostolic Life and
Foundations passed from USD 1,194,217.78, in 2011, to USD 1,133,466.91,
with a reduction of 5.09%. In total, therefore, there has been a
decrement of 7.45% compared to the total in US dollars recorded in 2011.The
Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), as each year, offered the
Holy Father a significant sum in support of his apostolic and charitable
ministry. For 2012 this was a sum of € 50,000,000, to which € 1,000,000
is to be added for the Amazon Fund, € 1,500,000 for the Pro-orantibus
Fund (support for cloistered monasteries), € 1,500,000 for the San
Sergio Fund (support for the Church in the former Soviet Union), €
1,000,000 for the Commission for Latin America, and other minor
donations.The Cardinal Fathers reflected on the data presented in
the financial statements, verifying the positive results attained, and
encouraged the reform necessary to reduce costs through the
simplification and rationalisation of existent bodies, as well as more
careful planning of the activities of all administrations. The Members
of the Council expressed their deep gratitude for the support given,
often anonymously, to the Holy Father’s universal ministry in spite of
moments of economic crisis, and encouraged perseverance in this good
work.
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
The bloc's foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, in a statement
published shortly after soldiers placed Morsi and his top people under
house arrest, said the Union "remains unequivocally committed to
supporting the Egyptian people in their aspirations to democracy and
inclusive governance."She urged the junta to "rapidly" organise new elections.She also said the future government must be "fully inclusive and ...
ensur[e] full respect for fundamental rights, freedoms and the rule of
law."Earlier the same evening, as the dramatic events in Egypt were still
unfolding, the Lithuanian EU presidency, speaking to MEPs in Strasbourg
on Ashton's behalf, listed Morsi's sins.Its EU affairs minister, Vytautas Leskevicius, said the Islamist
leader was guilty of creating a "political stalemate" with secularist
opponents, of arresting NGO activists, of restricting women's rights and
of mismanaging day-to-day affairs, such as policing of petty crime and
ensuring electricity and food supplies."Many people are feeling worse off than they were before 2011 [when Morsi came to power]," the Lithuanian minister said.MEPs from the left and right also voiced sympathy with the millions
of Egyptians who went on the streets in recent days calling on Morsi to
go.Spanish centre-right deputy Jose Ignacio Salafranca said "the voice of the people has to be listened to."Dutch Liberal Marietje Schaake said Morsi had "lost legitimacy" in a
"power grab" which went beyond the abuses of his predecessor,
pro-Western dictator Hosni Mubarak.Belgian Socialist Veronique de Keyser noted that while Morsi had been
freely elected, his Muslim Brotherhood party ran the country's economy
into the ground and installed an Islamist constitution which did not
respect the rights of all Egyptian people.An EU diplomatic source told EUobserver: "It's one thing to be
democratically elected, but it's another thing when you have several
million people against you on the street."
The contact added that the Egyptian security forces, whose chiefs
date from the Mubarak era, were acting for the sake of "the safety and
security of the country, making sure it doesn't descend into civil war."EU institutions kept up to date with developments via the Cairo-based Arab League's Crisis Room.The crisis centre, created with EU support last year, monitors Arab
media and physically overlooks Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital -
the epicentre of the anti-Morsi rallies.EU institutions also have inside contacts with the Egyptian military and intelligence services.But the EU diplomatic source noted that Europe, at this stage in the new process, has little say on how things evolve."It's a very Egyptian thing," the contact said.With the Muslim Brotherhood, which originated in Egypt, but which has
chapters in several Arab countries, denouncing the events as a "coup
d'etat," Morsi's overthrow risks inflaming tensions between Islamists
and secularists in the region.Ed Husein, a Middle East scholar in the Washington-based think tank,
the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in the New York Times on
Wednesday that Sunni Muslims could be radicalised by the brotherhood's
"humiliation."He noted: "The more extremist Islamists in the Arab world will say:
'We told you so. Democracy does not work. The only way to create an
Islamist state is through armed struggle'."
Khalil al-Anani, a scholar at the UK's Durham University, who was in
Cairo on Wednesday, told the Bloomberg news agency: "The collapse of the
Muslim Brotherhood will lead to dangerous consequences … creating
despair among young Islamists."But some Arab diplomats have other concerns."There is a risk that the Muslim Brotherhood will come out on the
streets [in Egypt] … But I am equally worried that the military now has
more power than it ever did," an Arab contact said."They have shown who is really in charge," the diplomatic source added.
Egypt: El Baradei Favored to Head Interim Government
Foreign Policy: ElBaradei had been approached by John Kerry to be prime minister under Morsi.
By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 7/4/2013, 5:25 PM-Israelnationalnews
Mohammed ElBaradei-Flash 90
Muhammad ElBaradei, the former head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, is the leading candidate for the position of prime minister of the interim government in Egypt, 24 hours after Mohammed Morsi was deposed by the military as the country's president.
The interim government is to rule Egypt until elections are held.Chief Justice Adly el-Mansour was officially sworn into office Thursday as the new transitional President of Egypt.First, however, he was sworn in as head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court.ElBaradei played a key role in protests that removed Hosni Mubarak
from power, and planned to run as a liberal, secular candidate in July’s
presidential election. He cancelled his bid in January, citing
undemocratic behavior by the military.David Kenner, Associate Editor of Foreign Policy magazine, wrote
Wednesday that ElBaradei had confirmed to him that U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry had spoken with him about the possibility of being
appointed prime minister.“In a meeting earlier this year with a visiting scholar,” wrote
Kenner, “[Muslim] Brotherhood deputy chairman Khairat al-Shater said
that U.S. officials had called on Morsy to appoint ElBaradei as prime
minister... [T]he thinking, according to Shater, was that ElBaradei's
appointment could repair the rift between the government and opposition,
stabilizing the country.Kenner and ElBaradei spoke about this as ElBaradei was preparing an article for the magazine's July/August edition.“In an
interview to prepare
the article,” Kenner wrote, “I asked ElBaradei about Shater's statement
that the United States was pushing for his appointment as prime
minister. He acknowledged that Secretary of State John Kerry had raised
the possibility with him, but denied that he was interested in the
position. "At this stage I think I would be more effective frankly being
outside the system and try to focus on the bigger picture," he said.
Israel Closely, Quietly Monitoring Egyptian Developments
Israel is closely monitoring developments in Egypt and minding its diplomatic manners as a new regime begins to take form.First Publish: 7/4/2013, 3:06 PM-Israelnationalnews
IDF patrols near Sinai border-Flash 90
Israel is closely monitoring developments
in Egypt as a new regime begins to take form following the military ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohamed Morsi.There has been no comment from the office of Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, who has asked all cabinet ministers, the Foreign Ministry and
all official spokesperson not to comment on the events taking place
across Israel’s southern border.
One official told the
AFP news agency on condition of anonymity the government is "closely monitoring the situation in Egypt but is not making any predictions because things are still
developing."It is important that the Egyptian people can enjoy a new level of
freedom and self-determination... but the current situation has sent
shock waves throughout the Arab world and it is causing some concern
in Israel," the source said."There is great uncertainty over Egypt’s future and it is very
difficult for Egypt, which is caught up with internal issues, to deal
with security problems, notably from terror groups in Sinai," another
source told
Army Radio – also speaking on condition of anonymity.Former public security minister Avi Dichter, however, was willing to speak on the record and grimly told
Voice of Israel radio
listeners in Hebrew on Thursday that he believes Israel will eventually
be punished by the Muslim Brotherhood for its president's ouster.Tthe protests which swelled into a revolution of 22 million
protesters seemed "clearly a planned military coup," he said. "The army
started seeing that it was losing its power and financial interests, and
when Morsi started going after the judiciary, the army understood the
picture. This is what happened [also] in Algeria," he said."The army didn’t like the results of the elections and annulled it,
which led to a bloodbath. I sincerely hope the same doesn’t happen in Egypt.
We live in a neighborhood that when things happen they usually reach us
too," warned the former head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet)."I don’t see the Muslim Brotherhood taking the arrest of its
leadership quietly for very long. They have a long history of producing
terrorism to get their points across. Sinai always pays the price – we
saw it after Mubarak’s ouster, and we’re likely to see it after Morsi’s
ouster," he predicted. "Sinai is a no-man’s land, and Israel will pay
the price for Sinai’s situation."
Nevertheless, much of Israel’s connection with Egypt is maintained at the military level, the
Israel Hayom daily
newspaper pointed out in an article published Thursday. "It is the
military officials who value the relationship with Washington and
cultivate the relationship with Israel," wrote Shlomo Cesana and the
Israel Hayom staff. "Therefore, for Israel, a leadership made up of
military generals is perhaps more approachable than a government led by a
party with religious leanings."But the bottom line, agreed the newspaper, is Sinai, where the Muslim
Brotherhood was blocked by the U.S. as well as Israel from destroying
Egypt’s peace treaty with the Jewish State.It is also in Sinai where operatives from numerous terror
organizations ranging from Al Qaeda to Hizbullah have busily built their
bases of operations in the two years since former President Hosni
Mubarak’s ouster.The one target they all agree on is Israel.
Citing Egypt, Feiglin Calls Army Radio a 'Threat to Democracy'
If Egypt is any example, Israel must immediately remove Army Radio from control of the IDF said MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud)-By David Lev-First Publish: 7/4/2013, 3:42 PM-Israelnationalnews
Moshe Feiglin-Yoni Kempinski
If Egypt is any example, Israel must immediately remove Israel's
Army Radio from the control of the IDF, said MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud). Feiglin made the comments after the Egyptian
Army threatened to remove President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt at the beginning of the week, a threat they eventually made good on.
Regardless of one's opinion of Morsi, it was clear that in a democracy the army needed to have its powers limited, Feiglin said – and that included transferring communications to civilian control.“The existence of
Army Radio is a major problem,” Feiglin
said during a discussion of the Knesset Economics Committee at the
beginning of the week on allowing
Army Radio to broadcast advertisements.“The army has no
business
managing a private-sector information source, because such a situation
can lead to a takeover of the civilian government by the army,” as happened
in Egypt, Feiglin said. According to Feiglin, the first thing an army does is take over the means of communications – which also occurred in Egypt, when the army shut down radio and TV stations sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood.“There is no room for this kind of situation in a democracy,” he
added. If the IDF still wanted input into the station, he said, it could
transfer ownership of
Army Radio to a group of retired officers - who were now civilians.Israel's
Army Radio, which began broadcasts in 1950 during the
War of Independence
, has
special programs geared to soldiers in addition to other broadcasts and
may be listened to 24 hours a day reaching every part of Israel. It has
been criticized heavily by the right for a leftist stance of a good
number of its broadcasters.
Egypt orders Brotherhood arrests, interim leader sworn in
By Maggie Fick and Shadia Nasralla | Reuters – 1 hour 28 minutes ago JULY 4,13
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's prosecutor ordered the arrest of the
Muslim Brotherhood's leader on Thursday, widening a crackdown against
the Islamist movement after the army ousted the country's first
democratically elected president.The dramatic exit of President Mohamed Mursi was greeted with
delight among millions of people on the streets of Cairo and other
cities overnight, but there was simmering resentment among Egyptians who
opposed military intervention.Perhaps aware of the risk of a polarized society, the new interim
leader, Adli Mansour, used his inauguration to hold out an olive branch
to the Brotherhood."The Muslim Brotherhood are part of this people and are invited to
participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if
they respond to the invitation, they will be welcomed," he said.Mursi's removal after a year in office marked another twist in the
turmoil that has gripped the Arab world's most populous country in the
two years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.The United Nations, the United States and some other world powers
did not condemn Mursi's removal as a military coup. To do so might
trigger sanctions.Army intervention was backed by millions of Egyptians, including
liberal leaders and religious figures who expect new elections under a
revised set of rules.The protest movement that sealed Mursi's fate was rooted in a
liberal opposition that lost elections to Islamists, but its ranks were
swelled by anger over broken promises on the economy, shrinking real
incomes and lengthening lines for fuel.
POLITICAL ISLAM
The downfall of Egypt's first elected leader to emerge from the Arab
Spring revolutions raised questions about the future of political
Islam, which only lately seemed triumphant.Deeply divided, Egypt's 84 million people find themselves again a
focus of concern in a region traumatized by the civil war in Syria.At least 16 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in street
clashes across Egypt since Mursi's overthrow, and television stations
sympathetic to Mursi were taken off air.Mursi himself was in military custody, army and Brotherhood sources
said, and judicial authorities have opened an investigation into
accusations that he and 15 other Islamists insulted the judiciary.The prosecutor's office also ordered the arrest of the Brotherhood's
top leader, Mohamed Badie, and his deputy Khairat el-Shater, according
to judicial and army sources.
The two men have been charged with inciting violence against
protesters outside the Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo that was
attacked on Sunday night.A senior Brotherhood politician, Essam El-Erian, said the movement would take a long view of the political setback.Writing on Facebook, he said "waves of sympathy" for the Brotherhood
would rise gradually over time and that the country's Islamist leaders
were overthrown before they had a chance to succeed."The end of the coup will come faster than you imagine," he added.Mohamed El-Beltagy, a senior Brotherhood politician, said the
movement was unlikely to take up arms over what he called a military
coup, although he warned that other, unnamed, groups could be pushed to
violent resistance by recent events.
"IT'S ABOUT EGYPT"
Outside the constitutional court where Mansour was sworn in,
25-year-old engineer Maysar El-Tawtansy summed up the mood among those
who had voted for Mursi in the 2012 poll and opposed military
intervention."We queued for hours at the election, and now our votes are void,"
he said. "It's not about the Brotherhood, it's about Egypt. We've gone
back 30, 60 years. Now the military rules again. But freedom will
prevail."For the defeated Islamists, the clampdown revived memories of their
sufferings under the old, military-backed regime led by Hosni Mubarak,
himself toppled by a popular uprising in 2011.There was a call from calm from the influential Dawa Salafiya
movement of Egyptian Salafists, urging Islamists to "leave the squares
to go to their mosques and homes."But a smaller Salafist group, the El-Asalah Party, posted on its
website the locations in Cairo and other cities where its followers
should gather in the afternoon in support of Mursi.The clock started ticking for Mursi when millions took to the
streets on Sunday to demand he resign. They accused his Brotherhood of
hijacking the revolution, entrenching its power and failing to revive
the economy.That gave armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who
already had his own reservations about the state of the nation under
Mursi, a justification to invoke the "will of the people" and demand the
president share power or step aside.The United States and other Western allies had also pressed Mursi hard to open his administration to a broader mix of ideas.Sisi, in uniform and flanked by politicians, officers and clergy,
called on Wednesday for measures to wipe clear a slate of messy
democratic reforms enacted since Mubarak fell. The constitution was
suspended.
INTERIM GOVERNMENT
A technocratic interim government will be formed, along with a panel
for national reconciliation, and the constitution will be reviewed.
Mansour said fresh parliamentary and presidential elections would be
held, but he did not specify when.Liberal chief negotiator Mohamed ElBaradei, a former U.N. nuclear
agency chief, said the plan would "continue the revolution" of 2011.Many liberals hope they can have more electoral success than last
year, when the Brotherhood's organization dominated the vote. But its
own ability to fight back democratically may be limited by the arrests
of its leaders.Straddling the Suez Canal and Israel's biggest neighbor, Egypt's stability is important for many powers.U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration provides $1.3
billion a year to the Egyptian military, expressed concern about Mursi's
removal and called for a swift return to a democratically elected
civilian government.But he stopped short of condemning a military move that could block U.S. aid.A senator involved in aid decisions said the United States would cut
off its financial support if the intervention was deemed a military
coup.Israel avoided any show of satisfaction over the fall of an Islamist
president who alarmed many in the Jewish state but who quickly made
clear he would not renege on a peace treaty.German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called the latest events
in Egypt "a serious setback for democracy" while NATO Secretary-General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "gravely concerned" about the
situation.The African Union said it was likely to suspend Egypt from all its
activities and Turkey said the army's overthrow of Mursi constituted an
"unacceptable" military coup.But the new emir in Qatar, which has provided billions of dollars in
aid to Egypt following the ousting of Mubarak, congratulated Mansour on
his appointment.The markets reacted positively to Mursi's exit. Egypt's main stock
index surged to a one-month high at the opening on Thursday, gaining 6.4
percent.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif, Mike Collett-White, Alexander Dziadosz,
Shaimaa Fayed, Maggie Fick, Alastair Macdonald, Shadia Nasralla, Tom
Perry, Yasmine Saleh, Paul Taylor, and Patrick Werr in Cairo,
Abdelrahman Youssef in Alexandria and Yursi Mohamed in Ismailia,
Michelle Martin in Berlin, Adrian Croft in Brussels, Ayla Jean Yackley
in Istanbul and Amena Bakr in Dubai; Writing by Mike Collett-White;
Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Sami Aboudi-JULY 4,13
DUBAI (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states welcomed Egypt's interim leader
on Thursday, hopeful his appointment would stem the rise of Islamists in
the Middle East, but the military overthrow of an elected president
drew a guarded response from Iran and condemnation from Turkey.The United States expressed concern at the ouster of Mohamed Mursi
on Wednesday and called for a swift return to democracy, as did the
European Union. But they stopped short of calling it a coup, which might
have led to sanctions.The 54-nation African Union was likely to suspend Egypt for allowing
"unconstitutional change", a senior AU source told Reuters.
For Gulf Arab states, which see Egypt as a strategic ally against
any threat from non-Arab Iran across the Gulf, the appointment of
constitutional court chief Adli Mansour as interim leader was met with
congratulations and evident relief."We followed with all consideration and satisfaction the national
consensus that your brotherly country is witnessing, and which had
played a prominent role in leading Egypt peacefully out of the crisis it
had faced," said the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh
Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, was quoted as
praising Egypt's armed forces for the "positive and historic role" they
played in preserving stability.
"CRITICAL PERIOD"
Saudi King Abdullah sent a message of congratulations on Wednesday
"in this critical period of ... history", and Qatar, the only Gulf Arab
state that backed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, welcomed the new leader on
Thursday.The official Qatar news agency reported that cables of
congratulation had been sent to Mansour by Qatar's new emir, Sheikh
Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.Qatar has been a major financier of Islamist groups around the Arab
World and had provided billions of dollars in aid to Egypt since the
2011 revolution that ended the autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak.Iran, which sought to repair its strained ties with Egypt after
Mursi's election a year ago, gave a guarded response, calling for the
people's "legitimate demands" to be fulfilled and warning of "foreign
and enemy opportunism".Mursi visited Tehran on one of his first official trips abroad, but
the two countries have found themselves supporting opposite sides of a
civil war in Syria that has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones."Certainly the resistant nation of Egypt will protect its
independence and greatness from foreign and enemy opportunism during the
difficult conditions that follow," Fars news agency quoted Foreign
Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi as saying.Syria, fighting to crush a two-year-old uprising against President
Bashar al-Assad, urged Mursi to step down on Wednesday and realize "that
the overwhelming majority of the Egyptian people reject him",
Information Minister Omran Zoabi was quoted as saying by state news
agency SANA.Neighboring Israel avoided any show of satisfaction over Mursi's
ouster, although a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
expressed hope Mansour's appointment would lead to the restoration of
largely frozen contacts with Cairo."Yesterday's events strengthen the feeling that perhaps we have
passed the bad period and perhaps now there will be a chance to have
diplomatic ties with whomever will govern Egypt in the near future,"
Tzachi Hanegbi told Army Radio.
"ILLICIT MEANS"
Straddling the Middle East and Europe, Turkey was harshly critical
of Egypt's army, saying its overthrow of Mursi was "unacceptable" - a
marked difference from its would-be partners in the European Union,
which avoided repeated questions on whether it was a military coup."It is unacceptable for a government that has come to power through
democratic elections to be toppled through illicit means and, even more,
a military coup," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told
reporters in Istanbul.Turkey has a history of military coups and is run by a government
with Islamist roots which has faced weeks of often violent protests.Some Western countries were concerned about the overthrow. "The
dismissal of the democratically elected President Mursi by the military
is very questionable. Military intervention as a way to resolve
conflicts in a democratic system is not acceptable," Austrian Deputy
Chancellor and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said in a
statement.NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was gravely concerned.
U.S. President Barack Obama stopped short of condemning the move. "I
now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to
return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian
government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent
process," he said in a statement.(Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa, Adrian Croft
in Brussels, Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Jeffrey Heller in
Jerusalem, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Silvia Westall in Kuwait, Sami
Aboudi and Marcus George in Dubai, writing by Elizabeth Piper; Editing
by Mark Trevelyan)
Portugal and Greece highlight eurozone fragility
Today @ 09:18 JULY 4,13
By Honor Mahony
BRUSSELS - Political turmoil in
Portugal and concerns about the pace of reform in Greece have raised
fears that the eurozone crisis may be about to reignite.Nervous markets pushed up borrowing costs in Portugal to a painful 8
percent Wednesday (3 July) after the governing coalition of Pedro Passos
Coelho saw the resignation of its finance and foreign ministers over
the social and economic costs of austerity measures.
The prime minister on Tuesday evening vowed not to resign amid calls
from the European Commission on Portuguese politicians to act with
"responsibility" as its "financial credibility" risks being jeopardized.
But Coelho's weakened position raises doubts about whether Lisbon -
until recently routinely praised for putting into place a series of
harsh budget-cutting measures - will be able to meet the terms of the
its €78 billion bailout, agreed in 2011.An economic report on Portugal published last month by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF)- one of the country's creditors along
with the European Central Bank and the European Commission - painted a
gloomy outlook."Improvements in external competitiveness indicators remain limited,"
it said noting that "economic recovery is proving elusive." The
country's debt is predicted to reach 130 percent of national output by
2015.Meanwhile, fellow bailout country Greece is faring little better. It
is having problems pushing through the reforms in return for its bailout
money. The task of cutting thousands of public sector jobs is
particularly difficult. Recently the government almost collapsed over
the closure of the public broadcaster, ERT.Representatives from the lender institutions are currently in Athens
to check on reform progress amid rumours of the next tranche of money
being delayed. Eurozone finance ministers are due to decide on the issue
next Monday (8 July).There are simmering issues elsewhere too. Spanish banks - which
received a bailout in 2012 - face many problems before they are in the
clear, Italy is mired in low growth, while Cyprus - the latest recipient
of a bailout - has to undertake a swathe of tough reforms.The increased uncertainty and market nervousness comes after a
prolonged period of relative quiet, prompted by the ECB's promise a year
ago to do whatever it takes to save the euro.The calm saw several politicians, including the EU's top duo
commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy, EU
council president, say the worst of the eurozone's crisis was in the
past.The intervening months, though markets have been quieter, have seen
continued debate on the merits of prolonged budget slashing, with the
IMF recently suggesting Greece's bailout programme ought to have been
handled differently.
The European Commission - long a fierce promoter of austerity
measures - recently gave a series of countries more time to reach the 3
percent deficit required under EU rules.On Wednesday (3 July), Barroso told MEPs in Strasbourg he was
prepared to ease deficit constraints further still, saying that some
infrastructure spending, such as transport and energy, will not be
counted as deficit spending in 2014.
The aim is to “non-recurrent public investment programmes with a
proven impact on the sustainability of public finances," said the
commission.The move would apply to countries that have deficits below 3 percent
of GDP - benefitting Italy in particular which has a low budget deficit
but large public debt.
MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
EZEKIEL 35:3-6,11-15
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir,(ARABS) I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,(AGAINST ISRAEL) and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.(ARAB,MUSLIMS)
15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir,(ARABS) and all Idumea,(ARAB,MUSLIMS) even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
EGYPT
ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's President Bashar Assad claimed in an
interview published Thursday that countries conspiring against Syria
have "used up all their tools" in their campaign to overthrow his
regime. The remarks came as Western-backed Syrian opposition figures
gathered in Turkey for talks on electing a new leadership.
In
comments to the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper, Assad rejected the idea
that what has been happening in Syria since more than two years is a
revolution. Instead, he insisted it is a conspiracy by Western and some
Arab states to destabilize his country.In the same interview,
Assad praised this week's massive protests by Egyptians against their
Islamist leader and said the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi meant
the end of "political Islam."In Syria, more than 93,000 people
have been killed since the crisis erupted in March 2011. The conflict
began as peaceful protests against Assad's rule, then turned into civil
war after some opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal
government crackdown on dissent. Millions of Syrians have been forced to
flee their homes.Throughout the crisis, Assad has insisted that
his government is not faced with a popular rebellion, but a
Western-backed conspiracy against Syria, accusing the rebels fighting to
topple his regime of being terrorists, Islamic extremists and
mercenaries of the oil-rich Arab Gulf states that are allies of the
United States."The countries that conspire against Syria have
used up all their tools ... and they have nothing left except direct
(military) intervention," Assad said in the interview, adding that such
an intervention would not happen.The Syrian regime says Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, in addition to the U.S. and its European
allies, are on the list of countries conspiring against Syria. These
states have been chief supporters of the opposition fighting to
overthrow Assad.Assad's comments coincided with a meeting of the
Western-backed Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul in the second
attempt in as many months by his opponents to unify their ranks.The
opposition bloc is mostly made up of exiled politicians with little
support from Syrians trying to survive the third summer of conflict in
the country that has been devastated by the fighting.Sarah
Karkour, a spokeswoman for the SNC, said that acting leader George Sabra
and senior opposition figures Louay Safi and Mustafa Sabbagh are
topping the list of candidates for the new leadership, including an
interim government.In late May, the opposition leaders met for
more than a week in Istanbul, but failed to elected new leaders or
devise a strategy for possible peace talks that the U.S. and Russia have
been trying to convene in Geneva.Khaled Saleh, a SNC spokesman,
said the coalition "welcomes any international effort to bring about a
political solution to the crisis," but insisted that "any talks with
Damascus on transition must start with the departure of Assad from
power."Assad
has repeatedly dismissed his political opponents as foreign-directed
exiles who don't represent the people of Syria. He has also shrugged off
calls to step down, saying he will serve the rest of his term and could
consider running for another one in next year's presidential elections.The
newspaper, Al-Thawra, also quoted Assad saying his opponents failed
because they tried to bring religion onto the battlefield. Assad
insisted he still enjoys the support of the majority of Syrians, who
have stood against Islamic radicals who have emerged as the most
effective force on the opposition's side.Members of Syria's Sunni
Muslim majority have dominated the rebel ranks, while Assad's regime is
mostly made up of Alawaites, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam."Whoever
brings religion to use for political or factional interests will fall
anywhere in the world," Assad said in the interview, again citing
Morsi's overthrow by the military in Egypt.In the past weeks,
Assad's army has been waging an offensive to regain control of territory
it lost to the opposition. The fighting has been particularly fierce in
the central city of Homs, parts of which have been an opposition
stronghold since the beginning of the revolt more than two years ago.The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes between
government troops and rebels on Thursday in the Khaldiyeh and Bab Houd
districts of Homs, and said regime warplanes hit targets there early in
the morning. Rebels have held those districts for the past year."Homs,
Homs, the besieged city," a man is heard saying in footage showing
destruction from the fighting there. The man is heard saying how Assad's
forces have used heavy weapons, including rocket launchers, and have
damaged the city's old market. The video, which was posted on the
Internet on Thursday, appears genuine and corresponds with AP reporting
from the area.The Observatory said fighters from Lebanon's
Hezbollah militant movement, which has sided with Assad's forces, have
been battling rebels in Homs. Hezbollah fighters helped the Syrian army
capture a key town near Lebanon's border last month, dealing a blow to
opposition fighters who have been ferrying supplies and fighters over
the border.Also Wednesday, a government official told The
Associated Press that deputy Labor Minister, Rakan Ibrahimn, was
seriously wounded in a bombing in Damascus. The official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said a bomb was
attached to Ibrahim's car, parked in the Barameka neighborhood of
Damascus. It went off when he started the car, the official said, adding
that the deputy minister was taken to a hospital.
Rebels groups,
particularly those affiliated with al-Qaida and other Sunni extremist
groups have frequently targeted Syrian government officials, regime
loyalists and military installations with car bombs and suicide attacks.___Associated Press writers Diaa Hadid in Beirut contributed to this report.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran on Thursday gave a guarded response to
the army's removal of Egypt's Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi,
calling for the people's "legitimate demands" to be fulfilled and
warning of "foreign and enemy opportunism".Iran welcomed the popular overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 as part
of an "Islamic awakening" and has sought to repair its strained ties
with Egypt since Mursi's election victory last year.Mursi visited Tehran on one of his first official trips abroad, but
the two countries have found themselves supporting opposite sides of a
civil war in Syria that has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones.Largely Sunni Muslim Egypt under Mursi voiced its support for mostly
Sunni rebel groups seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad,
Shi'ite Iran's closest Arab ally."Certainly the resistant nation of Egypt will protect its
independence and greatness from foreign and enemy opportunism during the
difficult conditions that follow," Fars new agency quoted Foreign
Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi as saying.
"With respect for the political origins of its (Egypt's) discerning,
civilized and historic people, the Islamic Republic emphasizes the need
to fulfill their legitimate demands and is hopeful that ...
developments will provide an atmosphere to meet their needs," Araqchi
said.The statement was a good deal more equivocal than before Mursi was
deposed. On Tuesday, an Iranian official said the Egyptian president had
been elected by the will of the nation and called on the armed forces
to "take heed of the vote of the people".(Reporting by Marcus George; Editing by Jon Hemming and Kevin Liffey)
