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SYRIA: CHRISTIANS TAKE UP ARMS FOR FIRST TIME
By Ruth Sherlock, Carol Malouf in Beirut
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9539244/Syria-Christians-take-up-arms-for-first-time.html
7:30PM BST 12 Sep 2012
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN ALEPPO HAVE TAKEN UP ARMS AND FORMED THEIR
OWN MILITIAS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAN DISCLOSE.
A fighter with the Free Syria Army (FSA) fires his weapon during
skirmishes in the contested neighborhood of Izza in the northern
city of Aleppo. A fighter with the Free Syria Army (FSA) fires his
weapon during skirmishes in the contested neighborhood of Izza in
the northern city of Aleppo. Photo: Zac Baillie/AFP/Getty Images
The Christian community has tried to avoid taking sides in the civil
war. In Aleppo, it recruited vigilantes from the Boy Scout movement to
protect churches, but as the war moved into the city and spread across
its suburbs they have begun to accept weapons from the Syrian army
and joined forces with Armenian groups to repel opposition guerrillas.
"Everybody is fighting everybody," said George, an Armenian Christian
from the city. "The Armenians are fighting because they believe the
FSA are sent by their Turkish oppressors to attack them, the Christians
want to defend their neighbourhoods, Shabiha regime militia are there
to kill and rape, the army is fighting the FSA, and the [Kurdish
militant group] PKK have their own militia too."
For the past six weeks up to 150 Christian and Armenian fighters
have been fighting to prevent Free Syrian Army rebels from entering
Christian heartland areas of Aleppo.
Last month the Syrian army claimed a 'victory' in removing FSA fighters
from the historic Christian quarter of Jdeidah. But Christian
militia fighters told the Daily Telegraph it was they who had first
attacked the FSA there.
"The FSA were hiding in Farhat Square in Jdeideh. The Church committees
stormed in and cleansed the area. Then the Syrian army
joined us. They claimed the victory on State television," said George,
who like many Christian refugees is too scared to give his full
name. "The rebels were threatening the churches."
The area, defined by its boutique shops, narrow cobbled streets and the
spires and cupolas of the Maronite, Orthodox and Armenian churches,
had over the weeks become infiltrated with sniper positions and
checkpoints, residents said.
"FSA snipers were on the rooftops and they were attacking the Maronite
church and Armenian residents there," said a former clergyman calling
himself John, now in Beirut, who said he had witnessed the battle.
The battle for Aleppo has become bitter, with militant jihadist groups
playing a more prominent role than in any other city.
It has become increasingly scarred by accusations of atrocities
on both sides, most recently the mass killing of 20 regime troops,
whose bodies were displayed on a video apparently uploaded to the
internet by a rebel militia.
Residents of the city told The Telegraph that the city's minorities
feared that they would suffer the same fate as Christians in Iraq, who
were heavily targeted by the sectarian violence that erupted after
the 2003 war.
"They are shouting 'the Alawites to the graves and the Christians to
Beirut," said an Armenian mother of four who recently fled the city -
a claim also made by several other Christian refugees.
John said that contrary to reports Aleppo's minority groups and wealthy
residents were not all regime supporters. But he said they felt they
had to protect themselves from 'peasant immigrants' who were using
the war to destroy the city's sophisticated heart.
"I am not in support of the government, but the FSA are all a bunch
of thugs and thieves. I watched them steal from a textile
factory - they took everything; gas, materials, even the beading
machines!"
Increasingly on the offensive, Syrian rebels killed at least 18
soldiers in a car bomb and ground attack on a military position
in neighbouring Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said.
In Aleppo on Wednesday four Syrian Armenians were reported killed
and 13 wounded in an ambush near the airport.
The new UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is to meet Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad in Damascus on Thursday, in a last-ditch effort to rescue
the country from civil war.
Any military intervention looked to be firmly off limits on
Wednesday. Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, made clear that
Western countries would not consider such action whilst Russia and
China continued to oppose it.
Seeing little hope of change many Christians have already joined the
hundreds of thousands who have fled the country. The UN High
Commission for Refugees said 253,000 Syrians were now registered
with them.
Many Christians say they hold little hope of returning.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Ruth Sherlock, Carol Malouf in Beirut
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9539244/Syria-Christians-take-up-arms-for-first-time.html
7:30PM BST 12 Sep 2012
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN ALEPPO HAVE TAKEN UP ARMS AND FORMED THEIR
OWN MILITIAS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CAN DISCLOSE.
A fighter with the Free Syria Army (FSA) fires his weapon during
skirmishes in the contested neighborhood of Izza in the northern
city of Aleppo. A fighter with the Free Syria Army (FSA) fires his
weapon during skirmishes in the contested neighborhood of Izza in
the northern city of Aleppo. Photo: Zac Baillie/AFP/Getty Images
The Christian community has tried to avoid taking sides in the civil
war. In Aleppo, it recruited vigilantes from the Boy Scout movement to
protect churches, but as the war moved into the city and spread across
its suburbs they have begun to accept weapons from the Syrian army
and joined forces with Armenian groups to repel opposition guerrillas.
"Everybody is fighting everybody," said George, an Armenian Christian
from the city. "The Armenians are fighting because they believe the
FSA are sent by their Turkish oppressors to attack them, the Christians
want to defend their neighbourhoods, Shabiha regime militia are there
to kill and rape, the army is fighting the FSA, and the [Kurdish
militant group] PKK have their own militia too."
For the past six weeks up to 150 Christian and Armenian fighters
have been fighting to prevent Free Syrian Army rebels from entering
Christian heartland areas of Aleppo.
Last month the Syrian army claimed a 'victory' in removing FSA fighters
from the historic Christian quarter of Jdeidah. But Christian
militia fighters told the Daily Telegraph it was they who had first
attacked the FSA there.
"The FSA were hiding in Farhat Square in Jdeideh. The Church committees
stormed in and cleansed the area. Then the Syrian army
joined us. They claimed the victory on State television," said George,
who like many Christian refugees is too scared to give his full
name. "The rebels were threatening the churches."
The area, defined by its boutique shops, narrow cobbled streets and the
spires and cupolas of the Maronite, Orthodox and Armenian churches,
had over the weeks become infiltrated with sniper positions and
checkpoints, residents said.
"FSA snipers were on the rooftops and they were attacking the Maronite
church and Armenian residents there," said a former clergyman calling
himself John, now in Beirut, who said he had witnessed the battle.
The battle for Aleppo has become bitter, with militant jihadist groups
playing a more prominent role than in any other city.
It has become increasingly scarred by accusations of atrocities
on both sides, most recently the mass killing of 20 regime troops,
whose bodies were displayed on a video apparently uploaded to the
internet by a rebel militia.
Residents of the city told The Telegraph that the city's minorities
feared that they would suffer the same fate as Christians in Iraq, who
were heavily targeted by the sectarian violence that erupted after
the 2003 war.
"They are shouting 'the Alawites to the graves and the Christians to
Beirut," said an Armenian mother of four who recently fled the city -
a claim also made by several other Christian refugees.
John said that contrary to reports Aleppo's minority groups and wealthy
residents were not all regime supporters. But he said they felt they
had to protect themselves from 'peasant immigrants' who were using
the war to destroy the city's sophisticated heart.
"I am not in support of the government, but the FSA are all a bunch
of thugs and thieves. I watched them steal from a textile
factory - they took everything; gas, materials, even the beading
machines!"
Increasingly on the offensive, Syrian rebels killed at least 18
soldiers in a car bomb and ground attack on a military position
in neighbouring Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said.
In Aleppo on Wednesday four Syrian Armenians were reported killed
and 13 wounded in an ambush near the airport.
The new UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is to meet Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad in Damascus on Thursday, in a last-ditch effort to rescue
the country from civil war.
Any military intervention looked to be firmly off limits on
Wednesday. Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, made clear that
Western countries would not consider such action whilst Russia and
China continued to oppose it.
Seeing little hope of change many Christians have already joined the
hundreds of thousands who have fled the country. The UN High
Commission for Refugees said 253,000 Syrians were now registered
with them.
Many Christians say they hold little hope of returning.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress