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Patriarch meets Syrian leader following Saint Elias church bombing
1 min Edward Finkelstein
Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa met on Saturday in Damascus with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, John X Yazigi, according to a statement posted by the presidency on Telegram.
Ahmad al-Sharaa and John X Yazigi © X
Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa met on Saturday in Damascus with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, John X Yazigi, according to a statement posted by the presidency on Telegram.
The two discussed the role of the Church in strengthening national unity and preserving civil peace in Syria, the statement said.
The meeting comes nearly two months after a deadly bombing targeted the Greek Orthodox Saint Elias Church in Damascus on June 22, killing 25 people and injuring 63.
The attack was later claimed by a little-known Syrian jihadist group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna (“Brigade of the Supporters of the Sunnis”).
Syrian authorities, however, blamed the Islamic State for the bombing.
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