Syria Archbishop Calls on West to Back President Bashar al-Assad in War against Islamist Rebels

THE TELEGRAPH: Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart, based in Aleppo, says West should follow Russia in backing Assad regime rather than Islamist-dominated rebel groups

A leading Christian bishop in Syria has welcomed Russia's intervention in the country's civil war, saying the West should follow Vladimir Putin in backing President Bashar al-Assad rather than rebel groups dominated by Islamic extremists.

Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart, who is based in the war-ravaged northern city of Aleppo, said Mr Putin's involvement had brought "hope" to many of Syria's Christian minority, who thought it might force the warring sides to the negotiating table.

In an interview with The Telegraph during a visit to London, he also urged Britain and America to re-examine their assessment of President Assad, who he claimed was not the "Devil" that they made him out to be.

Archbishop Jeanbart said: "I have been asking fellow bishops, priests and lay people about what they think of the Russian involvement, and they say they find some hope in it because they are desperate for the end of this war.

"As long as Europe and the USA have been involved, we have no seen no results despite the coalition bombing, but with the Russian intervention maybe things will change.

"Perhaps it will help destroy Daesh and push the opposition to find a solution," he added, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The bishop made his comments ahead of a visit to the House of Lords on Tuesday afternoon, where he was due to make a speech at event to mark the launch of a new report on the persecution of Christians worldwide. » | Colin Freeman | Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Syrian Christian Fighter 'Beheads ISIS Militant to Avenge Those Killed by Terror Group'

DAILY EXPRESS: A SYRIAN Christian fighter has reportedly beheaded an Islamic State (ISIS) militant "in revenge" for the atrocities and murders committed by the terror group.

The jihadist was executed in the north-east Hasakeh province after being taken prisoner in a local village on Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He was reportedly killed to avenge the attacks perpetrated by bloodthirsty ISIS members in recent months, including beatings, beheadings and burning their captives alive.

The Christian who beheaded the militant was allegedly fighting for Kurdish forces who have been battling against ISIS in recent months.

Observatory Chief Rami Abdel Rahman said: "He took him prisoner and when he found out he was a member of ISIS, the Assyrian fighter beheaded him in revenge for abuses committed by the group in the region." » | Levi Winchester | Saturday, May 30, 2015

Syrian Christians: 'Help Us to Stay - Stop Arming Terrorists'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Christianity is being extinguished in the land of its birth and the West is to blame, say Syria's faithful


Outgoing artillery shook St Elias church as the priest reached the end of the Lord's Prayer.

The small congregation kept their eyes on the pulpit, kneeling when required and trying to ignore the regular thuds that rattled the stained glass windows above them.

Home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, the hard to reach Syrian agricultural town of Izraa has stood the comings and goings of many empires over the centuries.

But as the country's civil war creeps closer, it is threatening to force the town's Christians into permanent exile: never to return, they fear.

"I have been coming to this church since I was born," said Afaf Azam, 52. "But now the situation is very bad. Everyone is afraid. Jihadists control villages around us." Read on and comment » | Ruth Sherlock, Izraa, Deraa | Saturday, November 22, 2014

Maaloula's Cathedral and Churches Empty of Christians as Syria's Latest Front-line Fight Takes Its Toll

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Its churches are empty, its monasteries deserted, many pitted and holed by the battles raging around them.
On Sunday thousands of Christians should have filled its streets for the festival of the Holy Cross. But instead the streets of Maaloula are filled with soldiers and tanks, spent bullet casings and the noise of Syria's latest front-line fight.

Maaloula is a special place. It has been a safe haven for Christians for 2,000 years - until now. It was a place of refuge so secure in its rugged mountain isolation that a dialect of the language of Christ, Aramaic, is still spoken here. But not today.

Its Christian community of 2,000 has fled. In the tight alleyways and streets that wind up the Maaloula's mountainside their language has been replaced by the Arabic of two bitter enemies: rebels from three Islamist groups and the soldiers of President Bashar al-Assad.

Some 70,000 tourists a year used to come here from all over the Middle East, Europe and America to marvel at the Christianity carved into its rock. But the "Welcome to Maaloula" sign as I drove in seemed almost laughable.

There was hardly time to notice the white statue of Christ the Redeemer on the hillside before we were fired on, bullets aimed at our van, blowing our tyre and holing the chassis. We screeched to a halt and scrambled clear. » | Bill Neely, International Editor, ITV News, in Damascus and Maaloula | Saturday, September 14, 2013

Battle for Syria Christian Town of Maaloula Continues

BBC: A BBC correspondent in Syria has said the battle for an ancient Christian town is continuing, despite reports that government forces had retaken it.

Jeremy Bowen said that a heavy gunfight with rebels was continuing in Maaloula, with smoke rising into the sky.

He added that he had not seen evidence confirming religious sites had been damaged by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists.

Fighting over the town, 55km (34 miles) north of Damascus, began last week after rebels attacked a checkpoint.

Free Syrian Army (FSA) units and members of the jihadist al-Nusra Front occupied Maaloula for several hours on Thursday before withdrawing when their positions were bombed by government warplanes.

Then on Sunday, activists said government soldiers and pro-government militiamen had been forced to pull back to the outskirts following a fresh rebel assault.

Since then, most of the town's 3,300 residents have fled to safer parts of the country including Damascus, where some told the BBC that three people had been killed and six kidnapped.

They said al-Nusra fighters had desecrated churches and statues.

However, our correspondent in Maaloula has seen statues in churches which were left undamaged. (+ videos) » | Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Syria Crisis: Al-Qaeda Seizes Village that Still Speaks the Ancient Language of Christ

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A branch of al-Qaeda fighting in the Syrian civil war has seized one of the few remaining villages where the original language of Christ is still spoken, residents say.

Fighting raged through the picturesque mountain village of Maaloula, near Damascus, on Thursday, as the regime launched a counter-attack against the rebels.

"They entered the main square and smashed a statue of the Virgin Mary," said one resident of the area, speaking by phone and too frightened to give his name. "They shelled us from the nearby mountain. Two shells hit the St Thecla convent."

Maaloula, tucked into the honey-coloured cliffs of a mountain range north of Damascus and on a "tentative" list of applicants for Unesco world heritage status, is associated with the earliest days of Christianity.

St Thecla, who is supposedly buried in the convent, was a follower of St Paul who fled to the village in Syria to avoid marriage, having taken an oath of chastity. It is said that the cleft of rock in which the convent is placed opened up to allow her to escape her pursuers.

The inhabitants are mostly Melkite Greek Catholic and Orthodox Christians, but have historically lived peacefully alongside a Sunni Muslim minority. It is one of only three places in the world where Western Aramaic, a dialect of the language spoken by Christ, is still used. » | Ruth Sherlock, Beirut and Magdy Samaan | Thursday, September 05, 2013

Remaining Syrian Christians Fear Chaos
More than a million people have left Syria to escape what is now more than two years of fighting.

Free Syrian Army Targets World's Oldest Christian Community in Syria
The "Free Syrian Army" have decided to send suicide bombers and booby-trapped cars into Christian villages to kill and terrorize the Christians of Syria. Their tactic is similar to their al Qaeda brethren in Iraq who bombed Christian towns and churches to drive Christians out of Iraq. They think that by ethnic cleansing they can get rid of communities whose existence in Syria and the Levant predates Islam.