Update: The nuns have been released unharmed! Glory to God!
Syrian militants release Greek Orthodox nuns
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Syrian militants released a group of Greek Orthodox nuns Monday in exchange for dozens of women held in government prisons a rare deal between Damascus and al-Qaeda-linked rebels that was mediated by Qatari and Lebanese officials.
The dramatic scene of the nuns being freed from vehicles in the dead of night at the Lebanese-Syrian border, bidding their captors a surprisingly friendly farewell, ended their three-month ordeal. The nuns were captured as opposition fighters overran a Christian village and were held in a border town. They were released as government-backed forces battled their way into the strategic border town in which they were held.
It provided an unusual example of regional actors cooperating to reach across the Syrian civil war's sectarian and ideological fault lines, which have sharply split the Middle East.
The energy-rich Gulf nation of Qatar, a chief backer of the rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, was involved in the mediation. Lebanon's General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, a powerful figure trusted by the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group and its Syrian government allies, was on hand to receive the nuns early Monday.
The 13 women said they were treated well by their captors, members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front. In a video released by the militant group, they appear healthy save for one elderly nun who is carried by a masked gunman to a waiting vehicle.
The video, posted by the Nusra Front on the internet Monday, shows the nuns and their captors chatting affectionately as they bid each other farewell.
An off-camera rebel voice tells the nuns that God will reward them for their suffering. "May God reward every person who sought to resolve this problem," one nun replies.
As the women reach the car, the unseen rebel says, "I was so happy to be in communication with you, and I hope that we can stay in communication, if God decides that. Please say hello to your families for me, and I hope you arrive safely."
The video appears to be consistent with Associated Press reporting.
The Damascus-based Greek Orthodox Patriarchate for Antioch and All The East hailed the nuns' release, saying their return to safety was "a message from heaven to all Christians to remain in this land (Syria) and coexist in complete harmony with Muslims."
The statement, carried by the Syrian official news service SANA, said the nuns will stay in the premises of the patriarchate and will return to Maaloula only after the town is "cleared of dirty terrorists."
Negotiations for the nuns' release had been on and off for weeks. Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah said in a statement carried by his country's official news agency that the energy-rich Gulf nation had been involved in the mediation that freed the nuns since December.
Opposition activists said the nuns had been held in a villa in Yabroud, a strategic Syrian town near the border with Lebanon that has been under opposition control for much of the conflict. In recent weeks, government forces have been on the offensive in the area. They've tightened the noose on the town in the past two days, increasing the pressure on the rebels to reach a deal to release the nuns.
Ibrahim, Lebanon's general security chief, and al-Attiyeh, Qatar's chief diplomat, said the Syrian government met a demand of the rebels to release more than 150 Syrian women held in prisons.
The Syrian government typically does not comment on releases in exchange for people held by rebels and did not confirm the women's release Monday.
The report of the release from government custody could not be independently confirmed, but Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 150 women and three children were freed. The children were the sons and daughters of one of the female prisoners, he added.
Syrian authorities have detained children in the past, usually to pressure family members to surrender.
The Nusra video shows the three children at the scene where the exchange took place. One little girl weeps for her mother, and a masked rebel gunman holds another child as he shouts "God is great!"
Monday's exchange was reminiscent of a deal reached in October, when nine Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria for a year and a half were exchanged for two Turkish pilots held hostage in Lebanon. That deal, negotiated by Qatar and Palestinian officials, reportedly also included freeing dozens of women held in Syrian government jails to satisfy the rebels who abducted the pilgrims.
The nuns' ordeal began in early December, when they were seized by rebels from a convent in the ancient Christian town of Maaloula.
When the nuns arrived in Damascus on Monday, the capital's residents gave them a warm welcome at the Church of the Cross in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Qassaa, where prayers marking their safe return were held Monday evening.
Although the nuns appear to have been treated well, their seizure confirmed the fears of many Syrian Christians that they were being targeted by extremists among the rebels in the increasingly sectarian three-year conflict.
The country's chaotic mix of rebel groups is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, while minorities include Christians, Shiite Muslims and Alawites whose sect is a Shiite offshoot. Most have sided with Assad or remained neutral, fearing for their fate should rebels take power. Assad is an Alawite.
