The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in Syria are massacring civilians, organizing mass public executions, torturing hostages and destroying economic potential which has taken decades to create.
Russia slammed in a statement issued Saturday Western attempts to "flirt" with extremists in Syria.
"There is bewilderment in Moscow about attempts by some of our foreign partners who are fond of insisting on the observance of human rights in all corners of the world to flirt with Islamist groups in Syria, trying to represent some of them as 'moderate' forces opposing the Syrian leadership," Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
"All Islamic radicals in Syria have the same objective, an objective for whose attainment they are prepared to brutally kill anyone, including women and children, to build a Caliphate where life is governed by the Shariah in its medieval interpretations," the statement said.
The statement pointed to reports that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) imposed a per capita tax – jizya – on all Christians who remained in the city after persecutions who refused to convert to Islam.
"The other day, the international community was shocked by reports from the Syrian city of Raqqah, which has been under the full control of jihadists for about a year."
"Moreover, Christians are prohibited from building new and repairing old churches and monasteries. They cannot put crosses on their churches, conduct services outside their places of worship, ring bells, or hold cross processions,'' the statement added.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
......
