"The United States, the European Union and the
Gulf states have a great responsibility in this war, which began as a peaceful
Arab spring," said Mgr Ignatius Joseph III Younan, patriarch of Antioch of the
Syriacs since 2009.
"By backing the rebels, who are not united, they stirred
hatred among the people. We Christians are disappointed by the behaviour of
these countries; their money and oil bought the world's conscience, justifying
violence."
For the head of the Syriac Catholic Church, "the Christians left in
Syria are the only ones who can bear witness through their lives and values to
the possibility of reconciliation, now virtually excluded by both regime and
rebels."