اكتشاف مخطوطة مسيحية تبشر بنبوة محمد

• عرض صورةاكتشاف مخطوطة مسيحية تبشر بنبوة محمد

كشفت صحيفة بريطانية أن السلطات في تركيا عثرت على ما يُظن أنها النسخة الأصلية لإنجيل برنابا الذي بشر برسول يأتي من بعد المسيح عليه السلام اسمه أحمد، مما سيثير جدلا في المعتقدات المسيحية السائدة.

وذكرت صحيفة ذي ديلي ميل أن المخطوطة المكتشفة من إنجيل برنابا مكتوبة على جلد حيوان ويعود تاريخها إلى القرن الخامس الميلادي، لكن عُثر عليها قبل 12 عاما فقط.

ونسبت الصحيفة إلى وسائل إعلام إيرانية القول إن الإنجيل المكتشف ينص صراحة على أن المسيح عيسى بن مريم لم يُصلب، وأنه يبشر بمجيء النبي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم ليكون خاتم الأنبياء.
على أن بعض الدوائر المسيحية وصفت الخبر الذي بثته أجهزة إعلام إيرانية على أنه من قبيل الدعاية المضادة للمسيحية التي "تثير الضحك".
وقد عثرت السلطات التركية على مخطوطة الكتاب المقدس عام 2000 عندما داهمت مقر عصابة تخصصت في تهريب الآثار والتنقيب عنها بطريقة غير مشروعة وحيازة متفجرات.
غير أن قمة الإثارة في هذا الاكتشاف حدثت في شهر فبراير/شباط هذا العام، عندما قيل إن دولة الفاتيكان -مقر القيادة الروحية للكنيسة الكاثوليكية في العالم- تقدمت بطلب رسمي للاطلاع على الإنجيل المذكور.
وتقول الصحيفة البريطانية إنه لا يُعرف حتى الآن ما إذا كانت تركيا وافقت على الطلب أم لا.
وتنسب الصحيفة إلى الإعلام الإيراني القول إن النسخة المكتشفة من إنجيل برنابا كُتبت باللغة السريانية المشتقة من اللغة الآرامية، وإن العالم المسيحي ينكر وجود مثل هذا الإنجيل.
وتشير "ذي ديلي ميل" إلى أن أصل المخطوطة غير معروف، إلا أن صحيفة "ناشيونال تيرك" -التي تصدر باللغة الإنجليزية في تركيا- أوردت أن النسخة المكتشفة كانت محفوظة بقصر العدل في العاصمة أنقرة قبل أن تُنقل تحت حراسة مشددة إلى متحف الإثنوغرافيا بالمدينة ذاتها.
وعلى الرغم من أن السلطات التركية تعتقد أن المخطوطة أصلية، فإن مراقبين آخرين -بحسب الصحيفة البريطانية- يشككون في صحتها.
وتنقل الصحيفة عن إريك ستيكلبيك -المحلل المتخصص في قضايا الإرهاب والمراقب عن كثب للشؤون الإيرانية- تصريحه لأحد المواقع الإلكترونية بأن النظام الإيراني دأب على محاولة القضاء على المسيحية بأية طريقة يراها ضرورية، "سواء كان ذلك بإعدام المرتدين إلى المسيحية، أو بحرق الإنجيل أو بمداهمة الكنائس السرية".
ووصف فيل لولر، في تعليق منشور بموقع ثقافي كاثوليكي على الإنترنت خبر العثور على مخطوطة إنجيل برنابا، بأنه بمثابة "تحدٍ إيراني مثير للمسيحية مثير للضحك".

International News Syria massacre in Houla condemned as outrage grows

This image – which cannot be independently verified – is believed to show the bodies of children in Houla awaiting burial
DUBAI — Western nations are pressing for a response to the massacre in the Syrian town of Houla, with the US calling for an end to what it called President Bashar al-Assad’s “rule by murder”.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council this week.
The UN has confirmed the deaths of at least 90 people in Houla, including 32 children under the age of 10.
The Syrian government blamed the deaths on “armed terrorist gangs”.
Houla, in the central province of Homs, came under sustained bombardment by the Syrian army after demonstrations on Friday.
Activists say some of the victims died by shelling, while others were summarily executed by the regime militia known as the “shabiha”.
‘Flagrant violation’
The killings have sparked a chorus of international condemnation.
The EU, Arab League, France, Britain and Germany all expressed shock over the incident and called for an intensification of pressure on the Assad government, while the UN demanded that Syria stop using heavy weapons in populated areas.
Britain was consulting with its allies on a “strong international response” and was calling for an urgent meeting of the Security Council in the coming days, Mr Hague said.
“Our urgent priority is to establish a full account of this appalling crime and to move swiftly to ensure that those responsible are identified and held to account,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said the attack – one of the bloodiest episodes since the uprising began – was a “flagrant violation of international law”.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it an “appalling” massacre, saying President Bashar al-Assad’s “rule by murder and fear must come to an end”.
In a statement on Saturday, Mrs Clinton called the deaths an “atrocity” and said Washington would increase pressure on “Assad and his cronies”, who she said must give up power.
“Those who perpetrated this atrocity must be identified and held to account,” she added.
France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was making immediate arrangements for a Paris meeting of the Friends of Syria group, which includes Western and Arab nations, but not Russia or China, who have blocked previous attempts to introduce UN sanctions.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also condemned the incident.
Mr Ban and Mr Annan said the crime involved “indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force” and violated commitments by Syria’s government.
In April, Damascus pledged to implement a six-point plan brokered by Mr Annan, including a ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from urban areas.
Meanwhile, the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) said it could no longer commit to the ceasefire unless the Security Council could ensure that civilians are protected.
In a statement, the FSA said that if urgent steps were not taken, then Mr Annan’s plan was “going to hell”, AFP reports.
It said killings in Syria were taking place “under the eyes of the UN observers,” and called on states to “announce the failure of the Annan plan.”
‘Deplorable’
Violence in Syria has continued despite the deployment of some 260 UN observers sent to oversee a ceasefire which the BBC’s Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says is now “pretty fictional”.
The head of the observer mission in Syria, Maj-Gen Robert Mood, called the massacre a “brutal tragedy”, but did not say who carried out the murders.
After a UN visit to the town on Saturday, he said they could confirm “the use of small arms, machine gun[s], artillery and tanks”.
“Whoever started, whoever responded and whoever carried out this deplorable act of violence should be held responsible,” Mr Mood said.
The UN has confirmed the deaths of at least 90 people, but the opposition Syrian National Council, as well as rights groups, put the toll higher.
Our correspondent says local people are angry that UN observers failed to intervene to stop the killing.
Abu Emad, speaking from Houla, said their appeals to the monitors failed to produce action.
“We told them at night, we called seven of them. We told them the massacre is being committed right now at Houla by the mercenaries of this regime and they just refused to come and stop the massacre.”
In the town of Kfarnabel in Idlib province, one protester on Saturday held a sign reading “Annan is singlehandedly responsible for the Houla massacre,” AFP reports.

New rage keeps Somali boys off street: video games

MOGADISHU, Somalia (CMC) — Inside a hot, cramped room in the Somali capital, 10 sweating children sat on wooden desks, not unlike those found in schools. These boys, though, were not in class. They were staring at a small TV and tightly gripping video-game controllers.
Video games are the new rage in Somalia, a first-world entertainment option for teenage boys that wasn't permitted when ultraconservative al-Shabab militants controlled the capital. The insurgents — who were pushed out of Mogadishu last year byAfrican Union and Somali troops — banned recreational pleasures like movies and Nintendo.
With the militants gone, Somali teens and boys are bingeing on entertainment systems like Sony's PlayStation, a development with both positive and negative aspects.
Some parents say the video games are helping to keep teens off the street, which in turn lowers the chances they might be recruited by al-Shabab. But many teens admit to skipping class to practice their gaming skills.
"I spend half of my day here. The video games are fascinating," said Abdirizak Muse, a 16-year-old who dropped out of his Mogadishu school in early 2011 after al-Shabab militants dug trenches around it.
Among the positive changes in Mogadishu since al-Shabab's ouster are new restaurants, a vibrant beach front, the reopening of the national theater and video-game parlors.
Mohamed Deq Abdullahi, a father of two teens, watched his boys play a soccer video game in a sweltering parlor on a recent sunny day. He sees the boys' new hobby as a beneficial development.
"This is his daylong activity because I don't want him get bored and go to war," Abdullahi said. "The busier they stay the more tired they get and the more they ignore violence."
During the Islamist uprising in 2006 that gave way to the al-Shabab militia, schools were prime recruitment sources for militants seeking to bolster their ranks. Hundreds, likely thousands, of children were lured into combat.
While video-game shops where teens can pay a fee to play by the hour are popular, the minority of more affluent Somalis are buying game systems for home. Muse Haji, a father of six, bought a system for his kids.
"For us it's a choice between the lesser evil and the bigger evil," he said. "Instead of my children going out and being radicalized and used as human bombs, it's better for me that they stay at homes and play games.
"We focus on nonviolent games such as car racing, soccer and some educational games," he added.
Haji said that like all children of this generation, his children are fanatics about technology, a positive change from generations past when kids were more interested in firing weapons and joining war.
At a video game shop in the Wardhigley district of Mogadishu, dozens of kids waited in line earlier this week to get a chance to play. The shop charges the equivalent of 10 cents for 15 minutes of play. The atmosphere is eerily quiet except for the beeping, whooshing and cheering emanating from the games.
"I have been here almost an hour to wait for my turn. I will play a game of soccer with my friend again," Shafici Osman, 14, said with an air of desperation as he watched his friends play. "I like coming here every day. I am either playing or watching others play. I am happy because my parents approve, and they give me money to play."
The sudden popularity of video games has created a strong business opportunity. Arcade owner Ahmed Aden said he has watched his business quickly grow since opening seven months ago.
"We started with two screens and now we have eight. Our business is booming," he said.
A 2011 U.N. report said that children were being systematically recruited by militants across central and southern Somalia. Schools — both teachers and students — were consistent targets by recruiters, the report said.
The report said some 50 schools suspended operations in south-central Somalia because of growing demands from militia groups as schools were destroyed and damaged during clashes between insurgents and government and African Union troops.
Ali Abdi, a 15-year-old, said he was trained to fight with al-Shabab, but after returning home for a visit his mother wouldn't let him return to the militia. Abdi's brother opened an arcade, where Abdi now happily spends his time. He plans to return to school when militants no longer recruit from classrooms.
"Many of my friends are unlucky and have taken part in the violence in the country. Some of them have died. Others are carrying guns around. In some ways, video games have saved my life," Abdi said.