'Rebels' are not Syrian

Submitted by rw talbot (Australia), May 5, 2013 at 22:47

A very interesting article in The Australian newspaper from oct of last year - sorry not to have drawn attention to this before - reports the views of Mother Agnes-Mariam de la Croix, mother superior of an ancient Syrian monastery. This is a lady who speaks five languages fluently and is evidently very competent. She says that 80,000 Christians had been 'cleared' by rebel forces from homes in the Homs province; Christian and Alawi hostages were gathered in a building in Khalidiya, Homs, which was then dynamited and the action attributed to the regular army; 'aggressive armed gangs which wished to paralyse community life, abducting people,beheading,bringing terror even to schools'.

These groups are affiliated with al-Qa'ida, Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist factions. According to Mother Mariam 'one in 20 of the fighters is Syrian'; the others could be British, Pakistani, Chechen, North African (and I hear from my country, Australia).....many having fought in Iraq and some in Afghanistan. 'Now their cause is being recycled to kill Syrians.' She says there is a 'hidden will to empty the Middle east of its Christian presence'.

The article concludes by reporting her view that 'there are powerful seeds inside the Syrian people for reform through dialogue and negotiation.'

One wonders what all the mayhem must be doing to the belief system of 'ordinary' moslems. I am reminded of the following statement about Iran , that 'before Khomeni, Islam in Iran was a sick cow; then Khomeni shot it dead.'

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