Israel's assault on Lebanon was planned even before Hizbullah attacked and was aimed at driving a wedge between the different faiths that have been living in harmony in the country, a delegation from the World Council of Churches said on their return from a visit to Beirut and Jerusalem. "We came back from Lebanon sharing the impression that this destruction was planned. And if the action by Hizbullah was the trigger, this was a planned operation all ready to go," Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Conference of European Churches, told reporters in Geneva. The Israeli Mission to the United Nations in Geneva declined to comment Wednesday afternoon because they had yet to see a written statement from the council, but the mission was closed by the time a statement was issued and by then no spokesman was available. "The representatives of Lebanon's various communities with whom (we) met had all agreed that the destruction was both deliberate and planned," said the joint statement issued by the council and other sponsoring church bodies Wednesday evening, summarizing the news conference. De Clermont, a retired pastor of the Reformed Church of France, was part of a three-member delegation made up of Protestant ...   more »

LONDON — An Iranian warship has captured a European-operated oil rig in the Gulf. Diplomatic officials termed the action "extreme" and unprecedented. Romania said the Iranian Navy attacked an oil rig operated by a Romanian company in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates off the coast of Iran on Tuesday. The rig, located near Kish island, was captured and at least 20 Romanians were detained. "We are dealing with a commercial dispute that is being treated in an extreme way by the Iranian authorities," said Sergiu Medar, a national security adviser to Romanian President Traian Basescu. Medar did not elaborate, but officials said the Foreign Ministry planned to send a team to the rig, operated by Oil Services Group in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates.Iran and the UAE have a territorial waters dispute

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