Protests were held in Damascus after a Christmas tree was set on fire in a Syrian village.
“We demand the rights of Christians,” protesters declared.
Other protesters raised crosses.
One demonstrator said he was protesting “injustice against Christians,” Sky News reported. “If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here anymore.”
According to NBC News, those who set the Christmas tree ablaze were identified as belonging to the group Ansar al-Tawhid. The individuals have been arrested.
The United States is set to lift the $10 million bounty on Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group now controls Damascus and other parts of Syria.
“If I’m sitting with the HTS leader … suffice to say, it’s a little incoherent then to have a bounty on the guy’s head,” Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said following a recent meeting. “We have a set of issues we would like to discuss with HTS over time.”
“We will judge by deeds, not just by words,” Leaf noted.
She went on to say: “We fully support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that results in an inclusive and representative government which respects the rights of all Syrians, including women and Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious communities. I heard him on his priorities, which are very much rooted in getting Syria on the road to economic recovery.”
World leaders recently met to discuss the developments in Syria. Those who attended the meeting affirmed their “full support to the Syrian people at this critical point in their history to build a more hopeful, secure and peaceful future,” a December 14 statement from the Department of State says.
The statement adds that the leaders “[s]tressed the importance of combating terrorism and extremism, including preventing the reemergence of all terrorist groups” and “demanded that Syrian territory does not pose a threat to any country, or a shelter to terrorists.”
