Contact lost with abducted Maaloula nuns- source

A well-informed source said on Thursday that it lost contact with the Maaloula nuns who were kidnapped by an armed group in the Syrian region of Qalamoun, noting that they may be taken out of Syria's Yabroud.         

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Agence France Presse that contact has been lost since Wednesday night, adding that they may be transferred to a region located between Yabroud and the Lebanese border.         

A Syrian rebel group calling itself "Free Qalamoun" claimed on Friday, December 06, the responsibility for kidnapping 12 nuns and said it wants to trade them for a thousand female detainees held by the government.              

Rebel spokesman Mohannad Abu al-Fidaa said the nuns were safe but "will not be released until several demands have been implemented, most importantly, the release of 1,000 Syrian women held in regime prisons".            

Syria's Christian minority have generally tried to stay on the sidelines of the sectarian conflict pitting majority Sunni Muslims against the Alawite minority. Many Christians fear the rise of hardline Islamist groups.         

Islamist fighters who captured the Christian village of Maaloula north of Damascus moved the nuns from the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Thecla to the nearby town of Yabrud, according to the Vatican envoy to Syria, Mario Zenari.