REPORT: Levant party stages sit-in to demand release of kidnapped Maaloula's nuns, Syrian bishops

The Levant party staged on Sunday a sit-in near the Turkish embassy in the Rabieh region to claim the release of the kidnapped nuns in Syria's Maaloula and the two kidnapped Syrian bishops amid tight security measures.

Protesters delivered speeches in which they urged the concerned authorities to deploy utmost efforts to ensure the release of the kidnapped nuns and bishops.

A group of nuns who went missing in Syria after Islamist fighters captured a Christian village this week have appeared in a video, saying they are in good health and denying that they had been kidnapped.

The nuns were taken after militants seized the ancient quarter of Maaloula, a Christian village north of Damascus, following heavy fighting with President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Monday.

The fighters then moved the nuns from the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Thecla to the nearby town of Yabrud, according to the Vatican's envoy to Syria.

This as two Syrian bishops kidnapped by gunmen on Monday April 22nd are still missing, church sources in Damascus and Aleppo said, contradicting a report that the men had been freed.

Pope Francis urged the release of the two Aleppian bishops, 2 days after their disappearance.

They have been identified as Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo and Alexandria Boulos Yaziji, and Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo Yuhanna Ibrahim.


LBCI/REUTERS


To watch Raneem Bou Khzam's report, please click on the video above.