Mustaqbal MPs to Kick Off Tour over Syria's Christians

A delegations from al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Christian lawmakers will head on a trip to several countries to address the conditions of Christians in war-torn Syria amid the dangers confronting them.

Al-Mustaqbal MP Atef Majdalani said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper on Friday that the decision was taken by the bloc and will be implemented as soon as possible.

He pointed out that the tour will include Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar.

The conflict in Syria is estimated to have killed more than 126,000 people since it first started out as peaceful anti-regime protests in 2011 and the violence there has unsettled the Middle East as a whole.

Gregory III Lahham, the Syrian patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic church has called on his fellow Christians to stay in Syria, despite the brutal conflict raging in the country.

According to the patriarch, 450,000 Syrian Christians have been displaced by the conflict that began in March 2011, around 40,000 of whom have fled to Lebanon.

Christians make up around 10 percent of Syria's population, and many have rallied to President Bashar Assad's side, fearing the harsh Islamist ideology of some rebel fighters.

The lawmaker revealed that the bloc kicked off contacts with Moscow over the case of the abducted bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, who were kidnapped on April 23 in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo while they were on a humanitarian work.

He noted that al-Mustaqbal movement representatives in Russia began planning for meetings with senior Russian officials and the State Duma.

Majdalani added that talks are ongoing with Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin to plan the visit to Moscow and similar meetings will be held with Tehran and Doha.