During the evening of 3rd January 2000, the naked body of a 60 year-old Maronite nun from Kfarchima in East Beirut was found lying near the Science Faculty between Hadeth and Kfarchima.

According to unconfirmed security reports issued shortly after the discovery, Sister Antoinette Zaidan had been raped and then strangled by Islamic militants on her way home to the local convent.

On the same day, two Christian women in the village of Kfar Abou in north Lebanon were massacred by the Islamist group 'Al-Takfir Wal Higra'. The victims were Salwa Yazbek and her pregnant daughter-in-law, Sarah Yazbek. The militants beheaded Sarah and then dismembered her body.

These latest incidents of violence have shocked but not surprised the Christian community in Lebanon, coming as they do after a fatal car bomb explosion in the Christian village of Kolaia on the first day of the New Millenium and numerous attacks on churches in recent months.

In November 1999 alone, four churches came under fire from Islamic militants. On 3rd November, the Maronite Church of Saint George in Dekuwane was bombed, killing the deacon, Chafiq Rajha, and wounding several parishioners.

On 14th November, the Orthodox Church of Saint Mikhail in Tripoli was bombed, and just two days later, on 16th November, the Church of Haoush Hala in the Zahle area was machine gunned.

On several days during November, Hizbollah militants shelled the Church of Aishie in south Lebanon with Katiusha rockets whilst members of the community were inside the church.

With international attention currently focussing on the peace talks underway between Israel and Syria, the Christians of Lebanon believe it is also time to address the related question of the foreign occupation of their country by both Syria and Israel.

Under US and Western pressure, Israel is set to withdraw from the security zone in south Lebanon by July 2000, leaving 110,000 Christians (out of a population of 180,000) to face Syria and the Hizbollah forces as well as the threat of persecution from the Beirut regime.

Israel first invaded Lebanon in March 1978 and then again in June 1982, later pulling its forces back to the south of the country to establish the "security zone." Syria began moving its forces into Lebanon in 1976, and entered the last free enclave in October 1990.

In 1978, UN resolution 425 called on Israel to withdraw, and in 1982, UN resolution 520 called on both Israel and Syria to pull their forces out of the country. In 1989, the Taif Agreement officially ended the war and imposed a Syrian withdrawal by September 1992.

However, while Ehud Barak has stated that he intends to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon by July 2000, Syria has so far expressed no intention of removing its 30,000 troops from 90% of the Lebanese territories.

The Christian community of south Lebanon believes that an Israeli withdrawal without a parallel Syrian withdrawal will leave them exposed to much greater persecution than they are currently suffering.

Independently of the negotiations between Israel and Syria, the Christians of south Lebanon are calling for the deployment of international forces in the area combined with the establishment of local civilian authorities in southern Lebanon assisted by the international community.

Chief Executive Officer of CSW, Mervyn Thomas, stated, "It is becoming increasingly clear that the plight of the Christian minority in Lebanon will become intolerable once Israeli troops pull out of Syria unless preventive action is taken quickly by the international community. Pressure must be put on the Syrian government to respect the conditions of UN resolution 520 and the Taif Agreement, and to withdraw their forces from Lebanon.

In the meantime, the international community must look at ways in which it can assist the southern population as they seek to establish the necessary structures for local government."