One Obama administration official in Washington, speaking anonymously to the New York Times, said that they do not know who the armed groups are, but they are “religiously based, absolutely.”
Vatican Radio director Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., has said the situation in Syria is “especially worrisome” because of its “persistent violence” and apparent lack of solutions. In his weekly editorial for Vatican Radio, he asked that all parties reject violence and oppose “the disintegration of Syrian society.”
He cited Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the new Syrian Ambassador to the Vatican, in which the Pope called for “true reforms in political, economic and social life” and increased “respect for the truth, for the rights of peoples and communities, of coexistence and reconciliation.”
Fr. Lombardi continued: “It is important to oppose the disintegration of this region and to speak out against the conflicts that force people to flee from one country to another: from Iraq to Syria, from Syria to Turkey … we must convert to dialogue, reconciliation and peace.”
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For his part, Bishop Audo argued that the government had a right to defend itself, noting that more than 100 police were killed within a few days’ time.
He criticized a “war of information” against Syria, calling media reports “unobjective.”
“In some media organizations, such as the BBC and Al Jazeera, there is an orchestration to deform the face of Syria to say the government does not respect human rights and so on,” he said.
“Syria must resist – will resist. 80 percent of the people are behind the government, as are all the Christians,” Bishop Audo told Aid to the Church in Need.
The situation of Syria’s 1.5 million Christians is not much different than other communities, he said.
“We want peace and security ... we do not want war and violence and we very much hope that in the next few weeks the situation will be better.”