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SYRIA: GREGORIOS III LAHAM (GREEK-MELKITE) “COUNTRY IN CHAOS, CHRISTIANS FLEEING”

Dettagli

Creato: 14 Maggio 2012

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“A country in chaos. Rascals and criminals, undercover foreigners in opposition groups, are taking advantage of it. Abductions, abuse, theft and violence are happening, again and again, against the Christians who are fleeing the country. Scenes that we have sadly learnt to see in nearby Iraq”. On the day the EU ministers of Foreign Affairs approved a new set of sanctions, the 15th, against Bashar al Assad’s regime, SIR spoke with the Greek Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Gregorios III Laham. The double terrorist attack that occurred in Damascus the last weekend and that killed over 50 people and injured hundreds, is, according to the patriarch, “a gesture of unprecedented cruelty that took the lives of so many innocent peoples. Violence caused by undercover foreigners in our country. Syrians of all faiths, especially Christians and Muslims, have lived together in this land for centuries. The chaotic situation in which we are now cannot but fuel tension and terror, especially among the minorities”. “These violent people are finding shelter in the Christian neighbourhoods after the Syrian security forces had driven them out of their positions. Lots of Christian families are now leaving their homes”, explains Gregorios III, mentioning, for instance, the village of Qara, where about 600 families have arrived from the Homs region in a very short time.

In the same place, on May 11th, the parish priest of the Greek Catholic Church of St Michael was attacked by two men, who also stole his money and personal belongings. Several agencies, including Fides, also said that some armed men drove all the Christian families out of the village of Al Borj Al Qastal, in the Hama province. Some armed gangs - in the troops of the varied Syrian Liberation Army - sneaked into the village and drove out all the families, taking possession of their homes and converting the local church into the military HQ. “All such violence must be stopped - the patriarch repeats -. We cannot go on like this. Saying the Government is committing it is not enough. There are lots of places that are under the control of the Opposition and armed people, if not gangsters. Christians are not subjects of the Government, but it must rule. The world cannot watch such violence and do or say nothing. If we really want peace to set in in the Middle East and retain such a viable Christian presence in the region, then Israel-Palestinian conflict needs to be solved. Europe, more than any other country of the international community, must work hard in this sense”.

© www.agensir.it - may 14th 2012