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Middle East and North Africa

Moscow condemns Catholic monk’s murder by Syrian militant opposition

Moscow resolutely condemns this new barbaric atrocity committed by Syrian opposition

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass) - Moscow has resolutely condemned Syrian militants for murdering a Syrian Catholic monk in the country’s Idlib province. Such actions cannot be justified, the Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

"On June 23, extremists carried out an armed raid on a Catholic monastery in the Idlib province in Syria. They killed Francois Murad, a Franciscan monk who tried to stop the sacrilege and looting of the Christian shrine and protect his fellow-Christians,” the Russian diplomat said.

Moscow resolutely condemns this new barbaric atrocity committed by Syrian opposition. It has torn the mask off those who are fighting in the ranks of Syrian opposition forces, creating an atmosphere of fear, chaos and religious intolerance in Syria.

"Moscow, which comes out for the earliest end of violence in Syria and a political settlement of the Syrian crisis, has always believed that murders of civilians, including religiously motivated crimes, cannot be justified,” Lukashevich emphasized.

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