[speeder]

Here is an email I just received from her:

Hi Denny,

Thanks for your kind message - and rest reassured, I am not the type to
put
myself unduly in danger ! Our neighborhood in Beirut is quite safe
and I
have not been to southern Lebanon (though Caritas is very active
throughout
the country) or southern Beirut for that matter (it's empty of people).

People are getting very tired and worry that no acceptable cease-fire
will
be negotiated any time soon. They had just finally got out of the
previous
war's reconstruction process.... The bombing of the northern route
was
quite a shock indeed - first time mainly christian areas were targeted
(though there are other, more windy routes north through the mountains,
so
it's not that all links are closed). People are particularly
frustrated as
Lebanon is actually quite a developped, modern country - most
infrastructure
were rebuilt recently after the was of the 1980s - so the level of loss
is
particularly shocking. Also, many are worried at what the war will do
to
the fragile social fabric of the country....

All this to say, the situation of the country is not good - though I'm
keeping safe myself.
Thanks for your concern & take care yourself !
Dominique