LEBANON CHRISTIAN LIBRARY WITH 80,000 BOOKS IS BURNED DOWN AFTER OWNER WAS FALSELY ACCUSED OF INSULTING ISLAM, MOHAMMED

<div data-key="aclpm" data-num="1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Christian library in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli was intentionally burned down on Friday night after its owner, a Greek Orthodox priest, was falsely accused of writing an article insulting Islam and the prophet Mohammed.</span></div><div data-key="asffr" data-num="2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assailants set fire to the Saeh Library, destroying two-thirds of the collection of 80,000 books and manuscripts, the French news agency Agence France-Presse <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/angry-lebanese-protest-over-attack-priest-39-library-191345225.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">reported</a>.</span></div><div data-key="fista" data-num="3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Father Ibrahim Surouj, a Greek Orthodox priest who owns the library was earlier accused of writing a pamphlet that was insulting to Islam and the prophet Mohammed, a Lebanese security source told AFP.</span></div> <!-- Begin BidVertiser code --><br /> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1" SRC="http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=579098%26bid=1449088" type="text/javascript"></SCRIPT><br /> <noscript><a href="http://www.bidvertiser.com/bdv/BidVertiser/bdv_advertiser.dbm">marketing</a></noscript><br /> <!-- End BidVertiser code --> <br /> <div data-key="tustp" data-num="4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The unnamed source said that later, however, “it became clear the priest had nothing to do with the pamphlet.”</span></div><div data-key="iailr" data-num="5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In an interview on Lebanese television on Saturday, Father Surouj said he <a href="http://www.yalibnan.com/2014/01/05/angry-lebanese-protest-over-attack-on-tripoli-library/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">forgives</a> those responsible and prays for peace in Tripoli, Ya Libnan reported.</span></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_736240" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 0px 0px 10px; background-color: white; border-color: rgb(51, 51, 51) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid; border-width: 4px 1px 1px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 0px 0px 10px; clear: left; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; margin: 10px auto; text-align: center; width: 475px;"><a href="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Lebanon-Library-Burn-1.jpeg" rel="attachment" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Outrage After Lebanon Christian Library with 80,000 Books Is Burned Down After Fatwa Was Issued Against It" class="size-large wp-image-736240 " height="620" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" src="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Lebanon-Library-Burn-1-465x620.jpeg" style="border: 0px; margin: 5px 5px 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Lebanon-Library-Burn-1" width="465" /></span></a><div class="wp-caption-text" data-key="fsbmb" data-num="6" style="border: 0px; color: #888888; line-height: 22px; margin: 5px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">f Several blogs and social media users said this photo shows the library as it burned. TheBlaze is unable to verify its veracity (Image: A Separate State of Mind blog)</span></div></div><div data-key="ldsrl" data-num="7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lebanon’s Daily Star <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Jan-04/243098-historic-library-torched-in-n-lebanon.ashx#axzz2pRizikva" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">reported</a> that “civil defense teams struggled to put out the flames which engulfed the bookstore,” calling the site “one of Lebanon’s most renowned libraries.”</span></div><div data-key="emlaa" data-num="8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even Muslim leaders defended the priest against the accusation he had written an anti-Muslim article. Salafist Sheikh Salem al-Rafei told reporters he would like to see Lebanese security forces prosecute those who incited the arson attack.</span></div><div data-key="icors" data-num="9" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I call on [security agencies] to prosecute those who incited, ordered and issued a fatwa in favor of the attack rather than the fervent boys who carried out the attack,” Rafei said.</span></div><div data-key="tfhpm" data-num="10" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The former head of Internal Security Forces Ashraf Rifi echoed the assessment that the arson attack resulted from rumors about an article insulting the prophet Mohammed.</span></div><div data-key="isfcl" data-num="11" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Internal Security Forces Brig. Imad Ayyoubi dismissed the allegations against the Christian leader.</span></div><div data-key="fshta" data-num="12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Father Surouj has nothing to do with the article and the source of the website is from Denmark and was published on Jan. 7, 2010,” Ayyoubi said, adding that investigators believe they know who perpetrated the attack.</span></div><div data-key="holtl" data-num="13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hundreds of Lebanese citizens demonstrated Saturday in Lebanon’s second largest city in support of the priest, while others volunteered to try to salvage books and rebuild the library.</span></div><div data-key="holtl" data-num="13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div> <!-- Begin BidVertiser code --><br /> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1" SRC="http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=579098%26bid=1449088" type="text/javascript"></SCRIPT><br /> <noscript><a href="http://www.bidvertiser.com/bdv/BidVertiser/bdv_advertiser.dbm">marketing</a></noscript><br /> <!-- End BidVertiser code --> <br /> <div data-key="holtl" data-num="13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read more from the source:</span></div><div data-key="holtl" data-num="13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/05/lebanon-christian-library-with-80000-books-is-burned-down-after-owner-was-falsely-accused-of-insulting-islam-mohammed/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/05/lebanon-christian-library-with-80000-books-is-burned-down-after-owner-was-falsely-accused-of-insulting-islam-mohammed/</span></a></div><div data-key="holtl" data-num="13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, HelveticaNeue, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px;"><br /> </div><!-- BEGIN TAG - DO NOT MODIFY --><br /> <script type="text/javascript"> //<![CDATA[ epom_key = "585a1f37f0a87ff49f68b4ff36bf96f4"; epom_channel = ""; epom_code_format = "ads"; epom_ads_host = "//www.adshost2.com"; epom_click = ""; epom_custom_params = {}; epom_width = "728"; epom_height = "90"; epom_sandbox_configuration = "allow-forms, allow-pointer-lock, allow-popups, allow-same-origin, allow-scripts, allow-top-navigation"; document.write("<script type='text\/javascript' src='"+(location.protocol == 'https:' ? 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LEBANON CHRISTIAN LIBRARY WITH 80,000 BOOKS IS BURNED DOWN AFTER OWNER WAS FALSELY ACCUSED OF INSULTING ISLAM, MOHAMMED

A Christian library in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli was intentionally burned down on Friday night after its owner, a Greek Orthodox...

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