Tuesday, May 8, 2007

The Middle East in Focus

The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"Praise waits for You, O God, in Zion : and unto You shall the vow be performed. O You that hears prayer, unto You shall all flesh come." (Psalms 65:1-2)

1. Rice, Syrian FM Hold First Meeting in Years - CBN News

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syria's foreign minister Thursday in the first high-level talks between the two countries in years.

2. Mass rally calls on Olmert to resign - Ynet News

Over 100,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Thursday night for a mass rally against the government, calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to resign.

3. Olmert Shores Up His Coalition - CBN News

Despite last week's release of the Winograd Commission's findings citing the failure of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz in their handling of the Second Lebanon War, both have opted to stay in their respective positions.

4. IDF vows tough response to Kassams - Jerusalem Post

Defense officials vowed a tough response Sunday night to a Kassam rocket attack in the afternoon that wounded two people at a gas station near Sderot. A 24-year-old worker at the gas station sustained moderate wounds after his body was hit by shrapnel from the rocket attack. Another bystander was lightly wounded.

5. Nasrallah: US pressured Israel into war - Ynet News

"The United States ordered the Zionist regime to invade Lebanon last summer," Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said during an interview with Iranian television station Alalam on Sunday.

6. Al Qaeda Leader Killed - NY Sun

American-led forces killed a senior Al Qaeda in Iraq operative believed responsible for the kidnappings of Westerners, including a Christian Science Monitor reporter and a slain peace worker from Virginia, a military spokesman said Thursday.

7. Top officer says U.S. forces stopping al Qaeda flow in Iraq - Washington Times

U.S. forces in Iraq are stemming the flow of foreign al Qaeda terrorists into the country, the commander of the U.S. Central Command told a Senate panel on Thursday.

8. Vice President Cheney To Begin Visit To Four Middle East Countries - Agence France Presse

US Vice President Dick Cheney leaves Tuesday on a four-country visit of the Middle East, looking to shore up support for Iraq among its neighbors and increase pressure on Iran, US officials say. "He's really more going to focus on regional security, with Iraq being the centerpiece, and focus on the challenges posed by Iran," said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "The president asked the vice president to travel to the Middle East to follow up on the Iraq regional security conference in Egypt," at the Sharm el-Sheikh Red Sea resort, said Johndroe.

· Pray for the safety of our Vice President as he goes on this journey. · "He will give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." (Psalm 91:11)