The War "at home" in the chaos of Damascus Christians are "strong in faith"

ASIA/SYRIA - 

Damascus (Agenzia Fides) - These are hours of high tension in Damascus: "We hear bombs and gunfire, people are terrified and do not leave the house. We thank God we are alive," says a Catholic priest from Damascus, reached by Fides Agency and requests anonymity for security reasons. "The news we hear according to some is that President Assad has fled from the capital. In the faces of people there is fear and sadness for the war that has come into houses," says the priest, saying that his church is home to 18 refugee families who have lost everything because of the conflict. "It is a very difficult time for everyone, there is chaos and uncertainty for the future. In this period I see that the faithful pray more, find their true refuge only in God." The Christians, he notes, "are among the people, they suffer like the others, they share the same fate and the tragedy of the Syrian people. But they are strong in faith and hope. Pray for us and for our future, " he concludes. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 19/7/2012)

ASIA/INDONESIA - Revival of Jihad: Islamic extremist groups join to regain strength

Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - After Ten years since the terrorist attack in Bali in 2002, the Indonesian Islamic extremist groups, weakened and divided, intend to join together to regain strength. This is what the latest report of the International Crisis Group (ICG) says, a study center with offices in all continents, titled "How Indonesian Extremists Regroup". In the Report, sent to FidesAgency, it is stated that these jihadist groups are taking on "new alliances" awakening "sleeping cells" and recruiting new members through the Internet. The Report examines, in particular, an alliance that emerged after 2010 between an extremist group of Medan (North Sumatra), a cell of the movement "Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid" (JAT) in Poso (in the Central Sulawesi province), and a group called "Tim Hisbah" in Solo (central Java). This alliance proves that links between radical groups born in different areas and contexts of the vast Indonesian archipelago much different and far between are extending. 
As the ICG reports, the group of Medan had "the brains and money"; the cell in Poso had weapons and trained personnel; the "Tim Hisbah" dealt with finding "young enthusiastic recruits ". This network was eradicated due to some errors, informs the Report, but there are others, and the dangers are not over. The extremists have succeeded, in fact, to travel with ease, to reproduce identity cards, to communicate through discussion forums on the web, to purchase arms and ammunition and to work closely with friends in prison." This creates some alarm - the ICG noted - given that, ten years after the bombing in Bali, in Indonesia, there are no effective programs to prevent jihadist ideology to flourish." (PA) (Agenzia Fides 19/7/2012)

 

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