Tag: Syria

Assyrians urge US to hold fire

September 12, 2013 Syria Assyrians, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Syria, USA

The Assyrian American National Coalition has mounted an online letter-writing drive to urge the U.S. administration to hold its fire in Syria. Assyrians are an ancient ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East, and belonging mostly to various eastern and orthodox Christian churches. “Now, as extremist jihadists have moved their war to . . . Read More

Churches hit in Damascus suburb

September 10, 2013 Syria Churches, Maaloula, Syria

At least three churches have been damaged as fighting between Syrian government troops and rebels in a Christian village north of Damascus has intensified, reports Middle East Concern. Opposition fighters renewed attacks on Maaloula on September 7. Assurances had been given that no churches would be damaged. This BBC report . . . Read More

Christian village ‘overrun’ in Syria

September 6, 2013 Syria Al-Qaeda, Islamic extremism, Maaloula, Syria

Clashes between Syrian government troops and rebel forces threatened to overrun a Christian village north of Damascus this week, reports the Associated Press. Opposition fighters are reported to have been led by an al-Qaeda-linked rebel faction, which attacked Maaloula on September 4, before pulling out the next day. AP reports . . . Read More

UN warns of Syria ‘genocide’

September 3, 2013 Syria Genocide, Middle East, Syria, UN

A UN diplomat has warned that if the violence in Syria continues at its present rate, there is a “risk of genocide”. Mokhtar Lamani, who worked with the UN during both the Balkans war and Rwanda, told the BBC that Alawites and Christians were at most risk, and that over . . . Read More

Viewpoint: A troubling call from Syria

August 29, 2013 Syria Assyrians, Bashar al-Assad, Lebanon, Syria, Tabqa

Nuri Kino is a Sweden-based independent investigative reporter, filmmaker, author, Middle East and human-rights analyst. His report, titled ‘The Camp‘, which examined the construction of a massive refugee camp for Syrian Christians inside Turkey, appeared on May 5 at World Watch Monitor. Aug. 26 Early this morning I received a phone . . . Read More

Italian priest still unaccounted for in Syria

August 22, 2013 Syria Aleppo, Bashar al-Assad, Boulos Yazigi, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Raqqa, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

Conflicting reports are emerging about the whereabouts and welfare of an Italian Jesuit priest who went missing almost one month ago. Reuters reported on July 29 that Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio had been abducted by Islamists with links to Al-Qaeda in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, but the Vatican would . . . Read More

Beyond count

August 6, 2013 Arab Spring, Copts, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, London, Middle East, Netherlands, Syria, Turkey

This much seems certain: Christians are leaving the birthplace of Christianity in large numbers. Just how large those numbers are, however, is a matter of educated conjecture, according to a new report on Christian migration from the Middle East. A precise accounting is impossible, but report author Markus Tozman says . . . Read More

Italian priest ‘kidnapped’ in Syria

August 1, 2013 Syria Al-Qaeda, Bashar al-Assad, Kidnapping, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Raqqa, Syria

An Italian Jesuit priest has been abducted in Syria by Islamists with links to al-Qaeda, Reuters has reported. Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio was reportedly kidnapped on Monday (July 29) in the rebel-held eastern Syrian city of Raqqa, which, Reuters says, has fallen under the control of militant Islamists. However, the Vatican . . . Read More

Lebanon on the brink

July 12, 2013 Lebanon Lebanon, Shia, Sunni, Syria, Tripoli

The war in Syria threatens to spill over into Lebanon, where the Damascus regime and the rebels both have supporters. A Lebanese BBC journalist’s film ‘Lebanon on the Brink‘ shows the latent sectarian enmity between Sunni and Alawite Shia in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

Archbishop of Canterbury and UK Foreign Office Minister alerted to need of Syrian Christians

July 10, 2013 Aleppo, Armenians, Bashar al-Assad, Damascus, Homs, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, London, Middle East, Minorities, North Africa, Refugees, Religious freedom, Shia, Sunni, Syria, Syriacs, UK

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the UK Foreign Office Minister responsible for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), have both acknowledged the findings of a report which says that Christians in Syria are increasingly targeted and vulnerable to persecution, amidst the on-going conflict there. Syria: Church on . . . Read More

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