Hezbollah calls for mass protests
Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies launched a long-threatened campaign to force Lebanon’s U.S.-backed government from office, calling for mass demonstrations today followed by a wave of open-ended protests.
A defiant Prime Minister Fuad Saniora vowed his government would not fall, warning in a nationally televised speech Thursday night that “Lebanon’s independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger.”
The call for protests threatens to turn a political power struggle between pro- and anti-Syrian factions into a violent showdown in this sharply divided country.
Government supporters accuse Syria of being behind the Hezbollah campaign, trying to regain its lost influence in its smaller neighbor.
Jericho, West Bank
Abbas says talks with Hamas over
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Thursday that months of coalition talks with the ruling Hamas have hit a “dead end” – and his aides said he’s done negotiating with the Islamic militants.
Abbas’ dramatic statement, made with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his side, could deepen internal strife in the Palestinian territories and set the stage for new elections.
Hamas denied the talks were in trouble and suggested Abbas was bluffing.
However, Abbas’ aides said he would decide on his next move in coming days, in consultation with the PLO Executive Committee, the Palestinians’ top decision-making body.
Istanbul, Turkey
Pope prays with Islamic cleric
Pope Benedict XVI joined an Islamic cleric in prayers under the towering dome of Istanbul’s most famous mosque Thursday in a powerful gesture seeking to transform his image among Muslims from adversary to peacemaker.
The pope’s minute of prayer was done in silence, but the message of reconciliation was designed to resonate loudly nearly three months after he provoked worldwide fury for remarks on violence and the Prophet Muhammad.
“This visit will help us find together the way of peace for the good of all humanity,” the pope said inside the 17th-century Blue Mosque – in only the second papal visit in history to a Muslim place of worship. Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, made a brief stop in a mosque in Syria in 2001.