Qatar foreign minister believes abducted bishops still alive: how Cain killed his brother Abel

Qatar rejects accusation it sent weapons to Libya DOHA Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:36am EDT Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni speaks to reporters in Abu Dhabi September 10, 2014. REUTERS/ Stringer Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni speaks to reporters in Abu Dhabi September 10, 2014. Credit: Reuters/ Stringer Turkey would welcome Muslim Brotherhood figures who leave Qatar - Erdogan MIDEAST STOCKS - Factors to watch - September 16 Washington wins diplomatic support for campaign in Iraq; Syria trickier Former Libyan general claims new air strike in western Libya S&P says to move Greek, UAE, Qatar stocks to emerging indexes Sept 22 (Reuters) - Qatar has denied an accusation by Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni that it sent three military aircraft loaded with weapons to a Tripoli airport controlled by an armed opposition group. In a statement to Qatar's news agency (QNA), Assistant Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi described the allegation as misleading and unfounded. "The policy of the State of Qatar is based on clear and consistent foundations: mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries," said the statement on Monday evening. Analysts say Libya is turning into a conflict zone for competing regional powers as the country faces the prospect of becoming a failed state or even civil war three years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Qatar helped bankroll rebels who ousted Gaddafi, and it continues to be an ally of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement with a following in many Muslim countries including ties to the opposition group now controlling Tripoli. Rumaihi said Thinni should check the accuracy of his information before releasing public statements, something that was particularly important since Thinni had not said anything about "the bombing of his country and its citizens recently". This is a reference to an assertion by the United States that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an anti-Islamist Gulf Arab state, bombed positions held by opposition fighters in Libya days before those forces seized the capital last month. Thinni has denied this allegation, but has said without elaborating that the UAE is supporting Libya. The UAE has not directly addressed the allegation. Qatar and the UAE are on opposite sides of a rift among Gulf Arabs over the role of Islamists in Arab politics. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain are angry over Qatar's support for the Brotherhood, whose ideology challenges the principle of conservative dynastic rule that dominates the Gulf. The three states recalled their ambassadors from Qatar in March, accusing Doha of failing to abide by an accord not to interfere in each others' affairs. Qatar denies the charge. In a sign that pressure may be having some effect, the Brotherhood said on Saturday that Qatar had asked seven senior Brotherhood figures to leave the country. (Reporting by Amena Bakr, Editing by William Maclean and Andrew Heavens) ====== 'War is madness’: Pope Francis says WWIII is happening already Published time: September 13, 2014 14:44 Get short URL Pope Francis walks inside the Austro-Hungarian cemetery at Fogliano in Redipuglia September 13, 2014.(Reuters / Stefano Rellandini ) Pope Francis has compared the current situation internationally to a third World War “fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres and destruction.” Calling wars irrational, the Pontiff lamented conflicts are often “justified by an ideology.” "War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying," Francis said while visiting Italy’s largest war memorial Saturday. "Greed, intolerance, the lust for power. These motives underlie the decision to go to war and they are too often..." "War is madness” which “ruins everything, even the bonds between brothers” the Pope said as he recalled the Genesis story of how Cain killed his brother Abel. "Humanity needs to weep and this is the time to weep," Francis said in the homily of a Mass. Francis has also spoken during a mass at the Italian First World War memorial at Fogliano di Redipuglia, in northern Italy, where more than 100,000 fallen Italian soldiers are believed to be buried in the military graveyard. “Here lie many victims. Today, we remember them. There are tears, there is sadness. From this place we remember all the victims of every war. Today, too, the victims are many,” the Pope said. "Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres and destruction," Francis said. “And these plotters of terrorism, these schemers of conflicts, just like arms dealers, have engraved in their hearts, ‘What does it matter to me?’” In the past few months, Francis has repeatedly called for the end of military conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Gaza and throughout Africa. In July, he also made an emotional appeal to the world, calling to stop war, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine, saying that the children who live in conflict zones are suffering most and are deprived of hope and a future. During his visit to Korea in August, the Pope said that humanity was in the midst of a Third World War. “Today we are in a world at war everywhere. A man said to me, ‘Father, we are in World War III, but spread out in small pockets everywhere.’ He was right,” Francis said at the time. ======= Qatar foreign minister believes abducted bishops still alive Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah is reported to have told attendees at a Sept. 4 closed-door meeting in Doha that the information available to him indicated that two Orthodox bishops abducted in Syria in 2013 were still alive, despite rumors sometimes circulating to the contrary. The statement was told to Al-Monitor by a high-ranking official who attended Attiyah's meeting with a Lebanese delegation visiting Qatar to discuss the issue 500 days after the abduction of Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Aleppo and the Syrian Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim. Summary⎙ Print Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah said that he has obtained information that two bishops kidnapped in Syria last year are still alive. Author Jean Aziz Posted September 8, 2014 Translator(s)Joelle El-Khoury The two men were reportedly detained April 22, 2013, in Damascus by gunmen opposed to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Since that time, there have been contradictory reports about the clerics. None of the reporting on their fate or on the identity of their kidnappers has been confirmed. The same source told Al-Monitor that although Attiyah appeared confident that the bishops remained alive, he did not seem optimistic that Qatar would be able to raise the matter with the relevant parties, because of the bishops’ movement in dangerous areas under the armed opposition’s control and, more significant, among more than one armed group. After reports appeared that the clerics had been abducted by Chechen gunmen, the kidnappers reportedly handed them over to Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's military wing in Syria. At that stage, Attiyah said, his country tried to mediate with the kidnappers for the bishops' release. During the same period, Doha engaged in other similar mediations, one of which led to the release of 11 Lebanese Shiites being held by gunmen in the Syrian town of Azaz, close to the Turkish border. Another Qatari mediation resulted in the release of nuns from the Maaloula monastery, northwest of Damascus, who were detained by Jabhat al-Nusra. Attiyah told the delegation that his government had received reports suggesting that the bishops were recently held by Jabhat al-Nusra members, but they either handed the kidnapped bishops over to the Islamic State (IS) or the men themselves pledged allegiance to IS. This has caused contacts between Qatar and Jabhat al-Nusra to be interrupted and Doha's mediation for the mens' release frozen. Attiyah explained that his government does not have any contacts whatsoever with IS, unlike with Jabhat al-Nusra, with which it has open channels. This was recently evident in the situation surrounding the Lebanese soldiers detained by the two groups in the barren lands of Arsal, in northeast Lebanon, where a Qatari mediator contacted Jabhat al-Nusra seeking the release of the soldiers in the absence of contacts with IS. Two of the soldiers have been beheaded by IS, which has threatened more decapitations if the Lebanese government does not meet its demands, notably, the release of nearly 400 Islamist inmates in Lebanese prisons on charges of terrorism. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/bishop-abducted-syria-alive-qatar-mediation.html##ixzz3DF7rpftO