footage on social media appeared to show two masked fighters setting fire to the christmas tree the night before christians in syria prepared to celebrate christmas eve. footage of the aftermath showed a religious figure from the governing hts rebel group assuring crowds who had gathered in suqaylabiyah that the tree would be repaired before the morning. the man then held up a cross in a show of solidarity, something islamist conservatives would not normally do. on tuesday more protesters took to the streets over the arson attack. some in the kassa neighbourhood of damascus chanted against foreign fighters in syria. "syria is free, non syrians should leave," they said, in reference to the foreign fighters hts said were behind the attack. in the bab touma neighbourhood of damascus, protesters carried a cross and syrian flags, chanting "we will sacrifice our souls for our cross". "if we're not allowed to live our christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don't belong here anymore," a demonstrator named georges told afp news agency.
Pirate