Reports: 13 nuns freed by kidnappers in Syria

A handout photo released by Syria's Arab News Agency shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaking during a meeting in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday, March 8, to mark the 51st anniversary of the 1963 revolution, when Baath Party supporters in the Syrian army seized power. Al-Assad said the country will go on with reconciliation efforts along with its fight against terrorism. The United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.

 

Thirteen nuns and three workers kidnapped in late November from a Greek Orthodox monastery in Syria were freed Sunday, a pro-Syrian government news network and Lebanese state media reported.

A convoy of around 30 vehicles picked up the nuns and workers in one part of Syria and took them into Lebanon, the country's National News Agency reported late Sunday. The convoy will travel through Lebanon to another border crossing to Syria, Jdaidet Yabous, where the group will be met by Greek Orthodox church officials, who will welcome them back into Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Qatari intelligence chief Saadeh Kobeisi reportedly crossed deep into Syrian territory to obtain the release of the Syrian nuns. He crossed into Syria as part of a Lebanese Internal Security delegation, the state news agency said.

Senior Orthodox Bishop Lucas al-Khoury earlier Sunday spoke to pro-Syrian government Ikhbariya television. He stood on the Syrian side of the border hoping to greet the nuns and said the negotiations for their release took several months because the kidnappers "made false requests intended to stall the process."

The Greek Orthodox figure, who often speaks out on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, added that the recent Syrian troop offensive on the opposition stronghold of Yabroud worked in favor of the nuns' release.

Days after the kidnapping, SANA reported that armed terrorists took the nuns, implying that rebels fighting to oust al-Assad were behind the attack.

The chief of an opposition group based in London told CNN he had confirmed that al-Nusra Front fighters abducted the nuns, but Rami Abdurrahman said the fighters did so to protect them from what the group believed would be an impending attack by Syrian government forces.

CNN could not confirm Abdurrahman's account of why the nuns were taken from the Monastery of Saint Tecla in the predominantly Christian village of Maaloula, about 40 miles west of Damascus. Abdurrahman leads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Great Britain.

The U.S. State Department has designated the al-Nusra Front a terrorist organization with links to al Qaeda.

Christians make up about 10% of the population of Syria, but Christianity has a rich history there.

Jesus was baptized in Syria, some of the earliest relics were found there, and Maaloula, in the Qalamoun Mountains, is one of the last places where the ancient Aramaic that Jesus spoke is still the main language.

Many of Syria's Christians support the al-Assad government, fearing that an end to his presidency could lead to instability and an Islamist power grab.