Persecution of the Christians: Syrian minority fear the end of fighting more than war itself

Patrick Cockburn 19/12/12 In his final dispatch from Syria, Patrick Cockburn reports from Maloula on the plight of the country’s Christian minority, who fear an end to the fighting more than the war itself. Two masked men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles tried to kidnap a businessman called George Alumeh in the ancient Christian town of Maloula, north-west of Damascus, last week. It was not the first kidnap attempt on richer members of the Christian community here and Mr Alumeh was prepared