President of the Syrian Coalition Riad Seif received head of the Syrian program at the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), Michel Nasir. The meeting was also attended by the Coalition’s Secretary-General Nazir Hakim and members of the political committee.
The meeting came as part of a project that was launched by the Syrian Coalition with the aim of promoting intra-Syrian dialogue and among the leading Islamic and Christian figures and the various groups and components of the Syrian society. The Council has recently launched a similar project.
Nasir spoke about WCC role in encouraging the Christian communities in the East to engage in the changes taking place in the region. He said that the WCC is working with the rest of social components to establish democratic societies in which everyone feels that they are equal citizens in terms of human dignity and freedom as well as to achieve social justice which is the only guarantor of peace in the region.
Nasir pointed out that the Council is seeking to continue this dialogue and make it a success and to have an impact on the ground. He stressed that through the Syrian Coalition and members of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the WCC has been able to communicate with important players and coordinate their efforts with the United Nations.
Nasir stressed the important role of religions in getting people out of the state of isolation and reclusiveness, noting that the root causes of the conflict in Syria and the region are political, not religious.
For his part, President Seif said that democracy is the solution to all the problems of the region in general, and Syria in particular as it is able to solve all political, religious and ethnic problems.
At the end of the meeting, Secretary-General Hakim focused on the important role of the wise people on both sides as it is capable of ridding the region of the sectarian seditions that were sowed by the ruling regimes. Hakim stressed the need to put an end to social injustice that affected all components of the Syrian society. He also underscored the need for all components of the Syrian society to stand united. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
