|
» 10/17/2013 14:30
SYRIA
Gregorios III: Christians do not need Assad to survive
The
Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch condemns acts of violence against
the religious minority, which constituted 7.8 per cent of Syria's
population in 2011. For the prelate, Christians are a valuable asset for
Syria who, along with Muslims, can create a "new vision" for the
country.
 Damascus (AsiaNews)
- Christians are a great asset for ending the conflict and do not need to Assad
to survive, Gregorios III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch Greek Catholic, told the BBC in an interview. "We have to
have a new vision," the bishop said, "and that is our work as Christians,
especially the Christian Arabs have to play this role to change the vision."
Praising the
recent decision to destroy Syria's chemical weapons, the prelate said it brought
new hope to the country. He stressed, however, that to stop the war there must
be a desire for reconciliation, and a peace conference must be organised.
Gregorios III is
adamant that a stable solution would come only when all foreign fighters go
back home. Only
this way can a national unity government be created, with members from the
opposition and the regime.
The war and the
violence have reached such a level that Assad's departure has become secondary,
he added.
Hunger, poverty
and Islamist attacks have displaced or forced out more than 450,000 Syrian
Christians, this in a community which, before the revolution, numbered some
1.75 million people, or 7.8 per cent of the population. Yet,
despite the exodus, the Melkite bishop is convinced that the Christian
community will survive.
With the
fragmentation of the Free Syrian Army, the only secularist group fighting Assad,
jihadists from various countries have been able to step in and now control various
parts of the country, including the province of Aleppo.
Until 2012, the
war was largely political, not based on sectarian hatred. This gave the
Christian minority some protection from both the army and rebels.
Now, with the rise
of extremist groups such as al-Jabhat Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant, considered by Islamists themselves as the most radical groups in
Syria, the conflict has turned into a sectarian war with an exponential rise in
violence against Christians. |
|
Nincsenek megjegyzések:
Megjegyzés küldése