SYRIA -Assad: no future for Syria and Middle East without Christians

PRAVMIR – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sees no future for his country and the entire region without the Christian presence, Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), secretary for inter-Christian relations at the Moscow’s Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, told reporters after a meeting with al-Assad on Tuesday.

“During the talks today, Bashar al-Assad noted that Syria has traditionally been a multi-faith country, and both its future and the future of the Middle East is inconceivable without the Christian presence,” he said.

According to him, al-Assad noted the crucial peacekeeping and humanitarian role of the Russian Orthodox Church in efforts to settle the Middle East crisis, including in providing support for Syrian Christians.