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.
Foreign fighters and others who joined Syria's civil war from abroad have petitioned the new Islamist-led government for citizenship, arguing they have earned it after sweeping to power with rebels who ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad.
War crimes were likely committed by members of interim government forces as well as by fighters loyal to Syria's former rulers during an outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria's coastal areas that culminated in a series of March massacres, a U.N. team of investigators found in a report on Thursday.
Turkey will help Syria with the provision of weapons systems and logistical tools under a military cooperation accord signed on Wednesday, a Turkish defence Ministry source said on Thursday, adding that Ankara would also train Syria's army in the use of such equipment if needed.
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