Protests have broken out in Syria after video footage appeared to show masked men setting a Christmas tree on fire.
Social media footage appeared to show masked men pouring liquid on the tree in Suqaylabiyah, a Christian-majority town in the centre of the country, though it is not entirely clear if they were trying to fuel or quell the fire.
The apparent arson attack has raised some questions about the protection of minority groups under Syria’s new Government, although the incident appears to be an isolated.
Syria – a diverse country made up of lots of different religious and ethnic groups – is just weeks into a new regime, following 50 years of the rule by the Assad family and 13 years of civil war.
Bashir Al-Assad, a dictator known for using chemical weapons against his own people, was toppled this month in an uprising led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
HTS, which has promised to protect the rights and freedoms of minority groups in Syria, said that foreign fighters had been detained over the incident.
Further video footage showed an HTS leader reassuring crowds in Suqaylabiyah that the tree would be replaced before Christmas Day, holding up a cross in an apparent gesture of solidarity.
Christmas celebrations are taking place across the country without indications of further incidents.
But the reported arson attack triggered protests in Syria, including in the capital of Damascus.
In the Kassa neighbourhood of Damascus, people called for the foreign fighters HTS said were behind the attack to leave, according to the BBC.
In the Bab Touma neighbourhood, protesters carried a cross and Syrian flags.
“If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here anymore,” one demonstrator told AFP news agency.
Christians attend a Christmas mass at the Lady of Damascus church, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, on Christmas Eve. (Photo: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/ Reuters)Dr H A Hellyer, senior associate fellow in international security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said that the incident should not be overplayed and that concerns around inclusivity were to be expected during a such a large scale transition.
“We’re talking about a country that’s pretty big, and one burning of one tree in one place,” he told The i Paper. “Almost immediately, we saw HTS come out and condemn it. I find that positive, and I wouldn’t say that we’ve got evidence to suggest that anything else is going on.
“This is a country in transition. I think it’s more than justified for people to be worried about what happens in a transitional process. It would be naive not to. But I don’t there’s anything going on yet.”
Dr Hellyer added: “There’s a lot of expectation that there’s going to be either a complete catastrophe immediately or everything’s got to be perfect immediately. And I think it’ll be more messy than that.”
It came as several of Syria’s diverse rebel factions agreed to disband and join the interim Government’s defence ministry.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa – who was formerly head of HTS and used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – announced the agreement on Tuesday.
He said that heads of groups including the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and factions in the north-east and south of Syria had met and agreed to “dissolve all factions and merge them under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defence”.
HTS is seeking to consolidate power and unite Syria after a violent and repressive Assad regime.
So far, fears that there could be widespread sectarian violence after a protracted civil war have broadly failed to materialise.
Despite having ties to al-Qaida, HTS has vowed not to discriminate against any religion or ethnicity, and has denounced revenge killings and said it will govern inclusively.
It has confirmed that, as under the previous regime, 25 December will be a national holiday.
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