Pope Francis salutes the crowd as he arrives for his general audience in St Peter square at the Vatican on November 6, 2013 (AFP Photo/Vincenzo Pinto) |
Vatican
City (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent a message to Pope Francis
Saturday, that state media said expressed his determination to defend Syrians
of all religions against hardline Islamists among the rebels.
The message
was passed on through a Syrian government delegation that held talks at the
Vatican with the pontiff's Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and foreign
affairs official Dominique Mamberti.
"The
delegation brought a message from President Assad for the Holy Father and
explained the position of the Syrian government," a statement said.
The
official Syrian Arab News Agency said Assad expressed his government's
"determination to exercise its right to defend all its citizens, whatever
their religion, against the crimes committed by the takfiri (Sunni Muslim
extremist) bands who attack them in their homes, in their places of worship and
in their neighbourhoods."
Pope Francis delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the City and to the World) message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basillica at the Vatican. Dec 25 2013 |
Assad said
the conflict could be resolved only by a "national dialogue between
Syrians without foreign interference, because the Syrian people is the sole
master of its own destiny and it alone should its leadership."
He
condemned the "military, logistic and material support being provided to
the terrorists by neighbouring countries," an allusion to the aid being
provided to the rebels through Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
The pope,
who was elected in March, used his first "Urbi et Orbi" speech on
Christmas Day to plead for humanitarian aid access in Syria and an end to the
violence.
"Too
many lives have been shattered in recent times by the conflict in Syria,
fuelling hatred and vengeance," the 77-year-old pope said on Wednesday.
"Let
us continue to ask the Lord to spare the beloved Syrian people further
suffering, and to enable the parties in conflict to put an end to all violence
and guarantee access to humanitarian aid."
The
conflict is estimated to have killed more than 126,000 people and displaced
millions since it first started out as peaceful anti-regime protests in 2011.
Earlier
this month, the pontiff called for prayers for 12 nuns seized from their
convent in Syria.
In
September he organised a global day of prayer for peace in Syria, speaking out
against the prospect of Western military intervention.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.