AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Syrian rebels led by al-Qaida-linked fighters seized control of a predominantly Christian village northeast of Damascus, sweeping into the mountainside sanctuary in heavy fighting overnight and forcing hundreds of residents to flee, activists and locals said Sunday. The battle over Maaloula, an ancient village that is home to two of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria, has thrown a spotlight on the deep-seated fears that many of Syria's religious minorities harbor about the growing role of Islamic extremists on the rebel side in the civil war against President Bashar Assad's regime. [...] "Where is President Obama to see what befallen on us?" asked the man, who fled the village on Sunday. He declined to give his name out of fear for his safety. Another resident who escaped earlier in the day said Assad's forces were deployed on the outskirts of the village, while gunmen inside refused to allow anybody in. He said that one of the churches, called Demyanos, had been torched and that gunmen stormed into two other churches and robbed them. A third resident reached by phone said he saw militants forcing some Christian residents to convert to Islam. "I saw the militants grabbing five villagers Wednesday and threatening them: `Either you convert to Islam or you will be beheaded,'" he said. The two other residents said they heard rumors about such conversions but did not see them. The reports could not be independently verified. All three residents spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. http://weaselzippers.us/2013/09/09/sy... While lawmakers in the US debate on what to do in Syria, the Syrian government and anti-government rebels clashed once again on Thursday near the small town of Maaloula. The small Christian town north of Damascus holds one of the oldest minority Syrian populations in the country. The recent conflict has many minorities in the area worried about the repercussion the community faces in the country's civil war. The arch Bishop of the Syrian Church for Eastern US, Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim, joins us for more. Find RT America in your area: http://rt.com/where-to-watch/ Or watch us online: http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/ Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTAmerica Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_America How To Go To Heaven: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/how_to... http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/... Syria army soldiers battle militants in Christian village Thu Sep 5, 2013 Syrian army soldiers are battling al-Qaeda-linked militants in and around a Christian mountain village in the west of the country. The foreign-backed militants launched an assault on the ancient Christian village of Maaloula on Wednesday after an al-Nusra Front fighter blew himself up in front of an army checkpoint outside the village. The militants then seized a mountaintop hotel and began shelling the community there. They also reportedly surrounded a church and a mosque before the Syrian government forces fought them off to retake the village, located some 60 km northeast of the capital Damascus, on Thursday. More clashes have occurred in the mountains around the village between government troops and al-Qaeda linked fighters. Home to around 2,000 people, the village of Maaloula has been registered on the UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites. Some villagers there still speak a version of Aramaic, an ancient language believed to have been spoken by Jesus Christ. The attack came amid the rising talk of a US war against Syria. The rhetoric of war against the Arab country first gained momentum on August 21, when the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in several suburbs of Damascus. The Syrian government categorically rejected the accusation and said the militants had conducted the attack to draw in foreign military intervention amid the recent advances made the Syrian army against militants operating in the country. http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/... Al-Qaida-linked Syria rebels hit Christian village September 4, 2013 By: Associated Press BEIRUT — Al-Qaida-linked rebels launched an assault Wednesday on a regime-held Christian village in the densely populated west of Syria and new clashes erupted near the capital, Damascus — part of a brutal battle of attrition each side believes it can win despite more than two years of deadlock. As the world focused on possible U.S. military action against Syria, rebels commandeered a mountaintop hotel in the village of Maaloula and shelled the community below, said a nun, speaking by phone from a convent in the village. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The attack came hours before a Senate panel voted to give President Barack Obama authority to use military force against Syria — the first time lawmakers have voted to allow action

• published: 19 Jan 2014
• views: 1