Thursday, July 7, 2005
LONDON BOMBINGS EVOKE
SYMPATHY IN MIDDLE EAST; CHRISTIAN LEADERS, UN'S KOFI ANNAN RESPOND TO
TERRORIST ATTACKS
By Michael
Ireland
LONDON, ENGLAND (ANS) -- Christian
leaders in the United Kingdom are responding to Thursday's terrorist
attacks on the British capital's public transportation system in which
at least 37 people have been killed and more than 700 injured.
 A statement on the London terrorist
attacks from the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the British Church
of England, spoke of his horror and grief following the explosions in
London Thursday morning. (Pictured: The remains of a London Transport
double-decker bus after it was destroyed by a terrorist bomb. Credit:
BBC website).
Speaking while on an interfaith visit to West Yorkshire, Dr Williams
said: "The appalling events in London this morning have shocked us all.
So I want first and foremost to extend my personal sympathy and
condolences to everyone who is suffering and grieving at this time.
"All those caught up in this tragedy -- and that includes of course the
emergency services whose selfless dedication and commitment is so vital
at times like this -- all are in my own prayers and in the prayers of a
great many people.
"As it happens I have spent this morning with Muslim colleagues and
friends in West Yorkshire; and we were all as one in our condemnation
of this evil and in our shared sense of care and compassion for those
affected in whatever way.
"Such solidarity and common purpose is vital for us all at this time of
pain and sorrow and anger.
"We in the faith communities will have to continue to stand and work
together for the well being of our nation and for our shared
understanding of the life that God calls us to. I hope that we shall
all keep that vision alive at this deeply sad and testing time."
The Rev. David Coffey, Moderator of the Free Churches in Britain,
commented: "The events that that took place in London today fill us
with horror, and our prayers go out to the bereaved and the injured,
together with all those who are seeking to offer help and comfort,
including the emergency services, security forces and chaplains.
"In a world of violence, where there is too little respect for life, we
want to stand alongside all those who are the victims of such
brutality, sharing their pain and anger, and embracing them with
compassion.
"This is a time when we are called to answer the evil of violence with
an unswerving commitment to the ways that make for peace and justice.
We join our Christian hope with all who seek the common good at this
critical time."
MIDDLE EAST REACTION TO TERROR BOMBINGS
Meanwhile the Reuters news agency reports that deadly blasts in London
drew shock and sympathy from Middle Eastern capitals on Thursday, some
of them all too familiar with carnage on their own streets.
"We've been experiencing terrorism for 30 years," said Samira Murr, a
Lebanese teacher in her 50s, in Beirut. "It's like the Madrid bombings,
like the 9/11 attacks. We feel we are not safe anywhere in the world
any more."
In Damascus, Syrian businessman Majed Ali said: "I really hope this is
not the doing of an Arab or a Muslim because our values are 100 percent
against this devilish crime. If my own brother had done this, I would
disown him."
Arabic satellite channels such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya broadcast
live footage of the scenes of the bombings that hit buses and
underground trains, as did Lebanese and Israeli media.
Iran and Syria, both on Washington's list of states sponsoring
terrorism, joined an unbroken chorus of condemnation, as did the
Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and
Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah guerrillas.
"The use of violence to achieve aims is condemned," Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a message to Prime Minister Tony
Blair, condemned "these detested acts."
Hamas, responsible for many suicide attacks on Israelis, said there
could be no justification for the London bombings.
"Targeting civilians in their transport means and lives is denounced
and rejected," Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy chief of the group's
political bureau, told Reuters in Damascus.
A Hizbollah statement on the blasts denounced attacks on civilians,
citing humanitarian, moral and religious grounds.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom linked the attacks with the
Jewish state's struggle against Palestinian militants.
"This attack shows us once again that terrorism is not Israel's problem
only," he said. "Terrorism can hit everywhere and against everyone."
SAUDI ARABIAN OFFICIAL "WE UNDERSTAND"
Saudi Arabia's Social Affairs Minister Abdulmohsen al-Akkas said his
country, battling a two-year wave of attacks by Osama bin Laden's al
Qaeda network, knew what London was suffering.
"We understand. Since May 2003 we have been experiencing the horrors of
terrorist acts," said Akkas, who was visiting London.
"Whoever did it, whether al Qaeda or the animal liberation front, they
are animals," said Khaled al-Maeena, editor of Saudi Arabia's
English-language Arab News daily.
"Those responsible for this have no feelings or humanity," said Hassan
Bannona, a 47-year-old Saudi aviation worker. "We feel for the victims
as we have also been attacked in this way."
Leading Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim scholar Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah
voiced outrage. "These crimes are not accepted by any religion. It is a
barbarism wholly rejected by Islam," he said.
Yemeni doorman Aref al-Haymi, 28, said the bombings showed criminals
were everywhere. "Everyone must cooperate to end this terrorism instead
of accusing only Muslims and Arabs."
Lebanon, where bomb blasts this year sparked memories of its bloody
civil war, expressed sympathy. President Emile Lahoud said his country
"shares with the British their pain."
Reuters said that some Beirut television stations interrupted their
morning shows on cooking and hairdressing to air live footage of
bombsites, casualties covered in blood and rescue operations.
Egypt's Foreign Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid,
whose country fought Islamist insurgents who often targeted Western
tourists in the 1990s, said: "It is important to be brave in facing up
to the scourge of terrorism."
Morocco, hit by suicide bombings in Casablanca two years ago, said the
"heinous attacks" underlined the need for united international action
against those who perpetrated them.
Reporting by Middle East bureaux of United Press International (UPI)
says the United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan condemned
Thursday's London bombings, calling them vicious and an "attack on
humanity itself."
"I was devastated by the atrocious bombings that struck London," Annan
said. "I grieve with all Londoners at the wounds that have been
inflicted on this wonderful city -- this city that is home to people
from so many countries and cultures -- and express my solidarity with
the government and people of the United Kingdom in this hour of trial."
The secretary-general said in the statement released in Gleneagles,
Scotland, and read at U.N. World Headquarters in New York, he looked to
the Group of Eight leaders meeting in Gleneagles to confront the deadly
attacks with the same spirit showed when they mobilized against poverty
and climate change.
"Let us not allow the violence perpetrated by a few to deflect us from
addressing the aspirations of billions of our fellow men and women who
are demanding change," Annan said.
The U.N. leader was flying out of London headed for the G8 summit in
Gleneagles, at the time of the Thursday attack, spokesman Stephane
Dujarric said.
On a personal note, having been born and raised in London, England, in
the 1960's and 70's, I am no stranger to terrorist bombings in the
British capital. Some of these terrorist activities, carried out
against the British Government by the outlawed Irish Republican Army
(IRA), took place in the suburb where I lived and worked before
immigrating to the United States. My sympathies and condolences to are
extended the families of the dead and injured and to those who live and
work in the capital.
This story was prepared using information collated
from various news sources. Every effort has been taken to ensure the
accuracy of the statements reported in this article.
| Michael Ireland is an international
British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London
newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982
and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two
children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a
British Christian radio station. |
 |
|
