Introduction to the evening news 24-12-2011

In the heart of a volatile region, Lebanon is celebrating Christmas with concerns. Palestine, whose peace is far-fetched, is divided into the Bank and Gaza and torn apart by the settlements. Syria’s Christmas is bleak and tainted with blood, and so is the Iraqi Christmas which is plunged into blood and crises. As for Egypt, it is caught up in political chaos as its Christians await the unknown after the incomplete revolution which granted the Islamists 2/3 of vote.      

The Lebanese did not receive the wage Christmas present whose decree took a third trip to the Shura Council.The issues of electricity, heating, traffic, the paralysis of the administration and the high cost of living are lingering. Furious, the Syrians took part in a mass funeral for the victims of the twin suicide bombings as they raised questions about the upcoming phase which might turn Iraq and Syria into a violence scene due to the overlapping regional crises and the severity of the Iranian-Gulf and the Shiite-Sunni conflicts.             

As for the Iraqi issue, signs of a new sectarian and political Sunni-Kurdish alignment emerged against the prime minister who is supported by the Shiite majority. President Jalal Talabani confirmed that his VP Tarek Hachimi, wanted for allegedly running a hit squad in Iraq, is at his guesthouse and that his appearance before the court is linked to the course of justice, investigation and trial, which heralds a conflict between the president and the prime minister.      

These events emerged as the ghost of division in Iraq loomed at a time when the Sunni provinces are calling for turning into an autonomous region. Nouri al-Maliki told representatives from Sunni Salahuddin province that he can't reject this issue since it is allowed by the constitution. He said however that the division is on sectarian basis.     
Head of the Iraqiya Bloc Iyad Allawi warned on LBC SAT of plunging the country into civil war, accusing Iran of fueling the conflict.