Pope Francis made a statement Thursday that the Catholic Church would not accept a Middle East that is devoid of Christians.
The Pope told reporters after a meeting with patriarchs in Syria, Iran and Iraq the church would not resign itself to a Christian-free Middle East. The Pope called for “the universal right to lead a dignified life and freely practice one’s own faith to be respected.”
“Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the Holy Land sometimes overflow with tears,” The Pope said.
The number of Christians in the Middle East continues to dwindle through oppression and civil war. Christians are just 10% of the Egyptian population, 5% in Syria, 2% in Iraq and 1.2% in Palestinian territories.
The Vatican said the population of Christians in the region has shrunk more than half since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The rebels attempting to overthrow the government of Bashir al-Assad took a major hit over the weekend with the death of a major rebel commander.
Abdul Qadir al-Saleh, the leader of the Liwa al-Tawlid, died overnight from wounds sustained in an air strike on a rebel held air base in Aleppo province on Thursday. The group is one of the major rebel forces in Syria with around 10,000 fighters. The group was the leaders of the rebels who took the city of Aleppo from government troops.
The brigade’s intelligence and financial chief died in the same attack.
“As an individual, he was very, very important, certainly in the Aleppo area, but increasingly as an individual that many in Syria felt represented the revolution,” IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre Charles Lister told the AFP news agency. “He came from a humble background, was outwardly religious but was very open… and he maintained extremely good relations with almost all groups of all different natures.”
Observers say it’s likely the rebel group will rally after the death of their leader to launch a major counter-offensive against government forces.
An al-Qaeda linked rebel group in Syria was in such a rush to post a violent video, they accidentally beheaded a commander of a fellow rebel group.
The members of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham asked fellow rebel groups for “understanding and forgiveness” for the killing of their ally and putting his head on display.
A spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq said that Mohammed Fares had believed he had been captured by pro-Assad fighters and asked them to kill him.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government announced they were working with Russia to bring all sides to the table in Geneva for a second major peace conference. The U.S. and Russia have been trying to broker a peace conference since May.
The main opposition group in Syria’s civil war had told U.S. and Russian negotiators they would be willing to come to the bargaining table if certain conditions are put in place.
The Syrian National Coalition said if the Syrian government allows humanitarian relief into besieged areas and they release women & children who have been taken captive by military troops they will agree to meet in Geneva.
However, the group refused to waive their demand any future government not include current president Bashir al-Assad. The Syrian government said they would not negotiate if that remains a condition of peace.
The Syrian government had agreed to ease the blockade on the rebel held town near the capital of Damascus. Food and flour entered the town of Qudsaya after the government was told markets had run out of food and poor civilians trapped by the fighting were unable to feed their children.
The war’s focus has shifted again to Aleppo where rebels are attempting to take control of the airport. Aleppo International Airport has been closed for a year because of the continual attacks.
European allies of the U.S. are reporting that Russia has quietly begun to make plans on dealing with a post-Assad Syria.
Russia has been a staunch supporter of the Syrian president throughout the civil war and has blocked United Nations actions against Syria on multiple occasions. Now, sources say the Russians are telling other diplomats they are not fixated on Assad.
“The Russians say they are not married to Assad,” a European diplomat told Fox News. “They are looking for true alternatives to Assad.”
The Russian Embassy in Washington declined to comment on Fox’s report repeating their believe that the Syrian people should decide Syria’s destiny.
Western government and Russia have been trying to get both sides of the Syrian civil war to the bargaining table but have acknowledged that it is unlikely to take place before the end of the year.
The UN-Arab League envoy to Syria has announced a delay in a peace conference planned for Geneva this month.
Lakhdar Brahimi said that after meeting with senior diplomats it was impossible to arrange a date for the conference. He said that he hopes to be able to bring all sides in the Syrian Civil War to the table before the end of 2013.
Brahimi said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is growing impatient with the situation and wants to have a conference happen as quickly as possible.
One of the key issues is between the U.S. and Russia, which are at odds about whether to include Iran as part of the peace process.
The Syrian opposition is fractured and asking for different demands other than the removal of President Bashir al-Assad. The Syrian government says that is a non-starter and will not hold peace talks if that is part of the process.
Israeli warplanes struck a target near the Syrian port city of Latakia Thursday night according to senior Obama administration officials.
The target was a missile storage site. Middle eastern press outlets reported the explosions but the Israeli government has not confirmed they were responsible for the attack.
Israel had long said that they would take any step to stop Syria from providing weapons to Hezbollah or any other group designated as terrorists. The Israeli government has also said they would stop weapons that could be used to attack Israel from being taken into Lebanon.
Terrorist group Hezbollah has entered the Syrian civil war backing up the government forces of Bashir al-Assad. The attack is not the first time Israel has attacked weapons believed to be designated for Hezbollah. Israeli forces attacked a convoy in January transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced Thursday that all the equipment in Syria that could manufacture chemical weapons has been destroyed.
The U.N. mandated deadline for the destruction of the equipment was Friday.
The inspections of all locations were determined to be completed after equipment at two sites that inspectors could not reach were confirmed to be taken to sites where the inspectors could see them destroyed.
The inspections and the destruction of equipment was part of an agreement at the UN that stopped the U.S. from striking militarily over the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons on civilians.
Syria has until the end of June 2014 to destroy their chemical weapon stockpile.
International chemical weapons inspectors in Syria have been stopped from investigating two sites identified by the Syrian government as chemical weapons facilities.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that verification of the other 21 chemical weapons sites have been completed. The inability for the investigators to go into the remaining two sites means that a key deadline in the mission to eliminate all the Syrian weapons has been missed.
The OPCW said that ceasefires would be necessary for their inspectors to complete their mission. The group would not say which side of the conflict was making the weapon sites too dangerous for their inspectors.
Under the United Nations resolution that authorized the inspectors to enter Syria, all chemical weapon production facilities in the nation must be destroyed by November 1st.
Most of Syria is in darkness after a rebel artillery attack destroyed a gas pipeline feeding a major power plant.
Residents of Damascus say the entire city is without power while officials with the Bashir al-Assad administration have said the power outage is nationwide.
“A terrorist attack on a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the south has led to a power outage in the provinces, and work to repair it is in progress,” Electricity Minister Imad Khamis told Syria’s state TV.
Khamis said it could take two days to restore the power.
The two sides in the civil war have been invited to a conference in Geneva to try and end the fighting but the government’s refusal to have President Bashir al-Assad step down is seen as an ongoing block to peace.