Muslim and Christian children to pray for an end to war in Syria
Hundreds of Muslim and Christian schoolchildren are to meet in Aleppo next week to pray for an end to the death of children through bombing and war in Syria.
On Thursday, October 6, they will sign and or place their fingerprints on a written appeal begging the worlds' leaders to put an end to the violence. "But above all, they will pray. They will pray for all of their peers. And we trust in the fact that children's prayer is more powerful than ours", said Archbishop Boutros Marayati, the head of the Armenian Catholic archeparchy in Aleppo.
Civilians re-housed in Aleppo
The Archbishop stated that last week the Syrian army and Government delegates had urged civilians living in neighbourhoods under rebel control to leave their homes and head for areas of the city considered safe. They promised the city gates would stay open to allow this.
"Many civilian families left those neighbourhoods and were welcomed in areas controlled by the government army. For groups arriving, housing facilities were set up for the reception. But it was not a mass evacuation. Perhaps many cannot leave," said the Archbishop.
The government-army offer was due to expire in the coming days, he added. The Archbishop warned that new blood would be shed "if the powers behind the two warring parties do not decide to really put an end to this dirty war".