|
Syria has requested all its citizens living or working in Lebanon to return to Syria, as the security situation in the country continues to decline. Last month, Lebanese soldiers clashed with Fatah al-Islam terrorists operating in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, resulting in the deaths of over 170 people. A few weeks ago, five Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed by a roadside bomb, in the first attack of its kind against UNIFIL forces operating in southern Lebanon. On July 16th a special UN Security Council meeting will decide on whether to place international monitors on the Lebanese border with Syria, and it is against this backdrop that Syria is calling on its citizens in Lebanon to return home. Quote: ""On July 5, 2007, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported that Syrian authorities had instructed all Syrian citizens residing in Lebanon to return to their country by July 15, 2007. The next day, the Israeli Arab daily Al-Sinara similarly reported, on the authority of a Lebanese source close to Damascus, that Syria was planning to remove its citizens from Lebanon. Also on July 5, the Lebanese daily Al-Liwa reported rumours that Syrian workers were leaving Lebanon at the request of the Syrian authorities. In addition, the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra reported that Syrian universities would accept Syrian students who were leaving Lebanon due to the instability there," MEMRI said in its report. Tensions are also increasing between between Syria and Israel. Last week Syria gave orders to remove military checkpoints operating near the Golan Heights, heightening fears that President Bashar Assad may be preparing for some sort of conflict in the region. The checkpoints had been in place since the Six Day War. Israel has also been conducting manoeuvres in the region, in preparation for the eventuality that war does break out between the two nations. In other news, water experts stated Sunday that Israel has been pumping water from springs in the Golan Heights on the Israeli side of the border, whose natural course would have flowed down to Syria, increasing the chances of war this summer. Conflicts have often broken out between nations over competition to control the scarce water resources of the Middle East. Turkey is planning to build 22 dams along the Tigris and Euphrates river, which will severely restrict the flow of water reaching Syria and Iraq. Last month Syria faced major power cuts, as the Euphrates river level dropped during a major heat wave. Syria obtains most of its electricity from generators in the Euphrates river. The Bible states that during the tribulation period, the Euphrates river will be dried up, preparing the way for the armies of the East to march on Israel. Revelation 16:12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Source BBC, Fox News, YNet News, Jerusalem Post, YNet News, Wikipedia, Jerusalem Post |
