Syrian Christians attend Mass, schools reopen a week after Assad's overthrow

DAMASCUS/LATAKIA, Syria, December 15 (Reuters) – Syrian Christians attend regular Sunday services for the first time since the dramatic fall of Damascus President Bashar Assad a week ago, in the first test of the new Islamist rulers’ assurances that minority rights would be protected.

As the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) came to power last week, it sought to reassure Syria’s minority groups that their way of life would not be at risk.

Streets in Damascus’ predominantly Christian Bab Touma district were filled with worshipers returning from church on Sunday morning, but some remained tense.

“We are afraid, we are still afraid,” said neighborhood resident Maha Barsa after attending the service at the Greek Melkite Catholic church in the neighborhood.

Barsa stated that he has hardly left his house since HTS took over a week ago, but nothing has happened to justify his concern, adding: “The events are uncertain.”

Syria is home to historic ethnic and religious minority communities, including Christians, Armenians, Kurds and Shiite Muslims, who, like many other Syrian Muslims, fear that any future Islamist rule during their country’s 13-year civil war would endanger their way of life.

In the coastal city of Latakia, a long Assad stronghold, Lina Akhras, church council secretary at St. George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral, said Sunday that Christians were “comfortable” in terms of freedom of belief under his rule, but he just wanted to live in peace and harmony.

The Assad family belongs to the minority Alawite faith, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

“(His fall) happened out of the blue, we didn’t know what to expect… Thank God, we received a lot of reassurances and saw members of the (HTS) committee reach out to our priest.” he told Reuters.

“Hopefully, we will return to our old lives and live in our beautiful Syria,” Akhras said.

The protection of minorities in Syria was a major concern at a meeting of top diplomats from Arab countries, Türkiye, the United States and the European Union on Saturday. i met in Jordan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said they support an inclusive and representative government that respects minority rights and does not provide “a base for terrorist groups”.

Syrian students also returned to classrooms on Sunday after new administrators ordered the reopening of schools.

The country’s new de facto leader, Ahmed al-Shara, faces a major challenge in rebuilding Syria after a civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. Cities have been bombed into ruins, the economy has been devastated by international sanctions, and millions of refugees still live in camps outside Syria.

Most schools across the country will open on Sunday, the first day of the workweek, officials said. However, some parents did not send their children to class due to the uncertainty of the situation.

In the courtyard of a boys’ high school in Damascus on Sunday morning, students joyfully waited and applauded as school secretary Raed Nasser hung the flag adopted by the new authorities.

In one of the classrooms, a student taped the new flag to the wall.

“I am optimistic and very happy,” said student Salah al-Din Diab. “I was walking on the street with the fear that I would go to the military. When I came to the checkpoint, I was afraid.”

While Syria begins reconstruction efforts, its neighbors and other foreign powers are still working out a new stance towards the country, even a week after the collapse of Assad’s government, which was backed by Iran and Russia.

Sharaa, better known by his rebel alias Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that ousted Assad from power last week. HTS is a group formerly allied with Al Qaeda, designated a terrorist organization by many governments, and also affiliated with the United Nations. sanctions.

UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen said on Sunday he hoped for a quick end to sanctions to help facilitate economic recovery.

“We hope that the sanctions will end quickly, so we can really see a recovery in terms of building Syria,” Pedersen said as he arrived in Damascus to meet with Syria’s interim government and other officials.

News Timour Azhari in Damascus, Tuvan Gümrükçü and Ümit Bektaş in Latakia Written by Andrew Mills, Frances Kerry Edited by Gareth Jones