Thirteen Greek Orthodox nuns arrived in Damascus yesterday after al-Qaeda fighters who held them for more than three months freed them in a deal providing for the release of women prisoners held by President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
It was not clear how many women prisoners had been released. Activists said at least 15 women were freed from Adra prison north of Damascus, just a fraction of the 153 which some officials had said would be included in the exchange.
The mostly elderly nuns and three other women from their convent appeared in good health as they sat in a room with several other Christian clerics. Most of them were dressed in black habits and wore large crosses around their necks.
These are women who do nothing but pray
“All of Syria is happy today (for their return),” Bishop Luka al Khoury told Reuters. “These are women who do nothing but pray... They don’t have weapons or bombs. On the contrary, they pray for people to be safe and secure.”
Eleven of the nuns later attended a service of thanksgiving for their safe return at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Damascus. Mother Superior Pelagia Sayyaf, one of the abducted nuns, held a candle and wept as she entered the church.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate welcomed the nuns’ return and called for the release of all remaining prisoners in Syria, including two prominent Syrian bishops who were abducted in Aleppo province last April.
The nuns went missing in December after Islamist fighters took the ancient quarter of the Christian town of Maaloula north of Damascus. They were later moved from their monastery of Mar Thecla in Maaloula to the rebel-held town of Yabroud, about 20 kilometres to the north, which is now the focus of a government military offensive.
Witnesses said the captives were released just over the border in Lebanon on Sunday before returning to Syria via another route under government control.
An online video showed the nuns being transported in 4x4 vehicles by masked gunmen waving the banner of the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria.
One of the nuns said the rebels did not subject them to any mistreatment. Activists said the authorities released 15 women who had been held on terrorism charges at Adra prison on the outskirts of Damascus.