AFTER MUSLIM REBELS SEIZE TWO PRIESTS IN ALEPPO, THERE ARE FEARS FOR THEIR LIFE
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/After-Muslim-rebels-seize-two-priests-in-Aleppo,-there-are-fears-for-their-life-27116.html
02/12/2013 13:05
SYRIA
An Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, and an Orthodox clergyman
were abducted last Sunday in Aleppo's Christian neighbourhood. Sources
speak to AsiaNews about barbarous murders carried out my Islamic
extremists. A car bomb explodes at the Turkish-Syrian border crossing
of Cilvegozu.
Aleppo (AsiaNews) - A group of rebels close to Muslim extremists on
Sunday abducted an Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, as well as a
yet unknown Orthodox clergyman. Both were working in Aleppo. Sources,
anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews that the city's Christian
community is very concerned about the attack. "Extremist violence is
getting worse day by day. Muslim militias are killing anyone suspected
of ties with the regime, including women and children. People in the
neighbourhoods are comparing these days to the Ottoman conquest five
centuries ago."
For several weeks, residents had complained about the presence of
al-Nusra Front forces, Islamic extremists who want to turn Syria into
an Islamic state, feared even by the rebel Free Syrian Army.
On 6 February, Front troops stormed the Christian neighbourhood
of Jdeideh where extremists had already destroyed the city's main
Evangelical church in November.
Al-Nusra forces include many foreigners, including Muslims from
Indonesia and the Philippines, as evinced by a statement posted online
by the leader of Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Muslim group with ties to
al-Qaeda operating in the Philippines. In it, Muslims are urged to
go to Syria and sacrifice their lives for Islam.
"These fighters live for killing and violence. They act without pity
and make distinctions among people," sources said. "When they kill,
they turn to God as if they were making a sacrifice."
Meanwhile, clashes between the military and rebel groups continue
across Syria with more than 60,000 people killed so far.
Yesterday, a car bomb killed 13 people near the Turkish border,
at a road block in Cilvegozu, a border crossing some 100 kilometres
northwest of Aleppo, the main route of escape for Syrian refugees
fleeing the war. It has been in rebel hands for several months. (S.C.)
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/After-Muslim-rebels-seize-two-priests-in-Aleppo,-there-are-fears-for-their-life-27116.html
02/12/2013 13:05
SYRIA
An Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, and an Orthodox clergyman
were abducted last Sunday in Aleppo's Christian neighbourhood. Sources
speak to AsiaNews about barbarous murders carried out my Islamic
extremists. A car bomb explodes at the Turkish-Syrian border crossing
of Cilvegozu.
Aleppo (AsiaNews) - A group of rebels close to Muslim extremists on
Sunday abducted an Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, as well as a
yet unknown Orthodox clergyman. Both were working in Aleppo. Sources,
anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews that the city's Christian
community is very concerned about the attack. "Extremist violence is
getting worse day by day. Muslim militias are killing anyone suspected
of ties with the regime, including women and children. People in the
neighbourhoods are comparing these days to the Ottoman conquest five
centuries ago."
For several weeks, residents had complained about the presence of
al-Nusra Front forces, Islamic extremists who want to turn Syria into
an Islamic state, feared even by the rebel Free Syrian Army.
On 6 February, Front troops stormed the Christian neighbourhood
of Jdeideh where extremists had already destroyed the city's main
Evangelical church in November.
Al-Nusra forces include many foreigners, including Muslims from
Indonesia and the Philippines, as evinced by a statement posted online
by the leader of Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Muslim group with ties to
al-Qaeda operating in the Philippines. In it, Muslims are urged to
go to Syria and sacrifice their lives for Islam.
"These fighters live for killing and violence. They act without pity
and make distinctions among people," sources said. "When they kill,
they turn to God as if they were making a sacrifice."
Meanwhile, clashes between the military and rebel groups continue
across Syria with more than 60,000 people killed so far.
Yesterday, a car bomb killed 13 people near the Turkish border,
at a road block in Cilvegozu, a border crossing some 100 kilometres
northwest of Aleppo, the main route of escape for Syrian refugees
fleeing the war. It has been in rebel hands for several months. (S.C.)