Aleppo parish priest: We're stuggling against
desperation
(Vatican Radio) There
was calm across much of Syria Wednesday following a Russian and US brokered
ceasefire, although a number of violations were reported since it took
hold. With the truce in place the northern city of Aleppo is awaiting much
needed aid.
U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura
said aid for the rebel-held city is a top priority, and that a key concern
about the overall cease-fire is whether sporadic ``incidents'' worsen to
threaten the deal.
Fr Ibrahim Alsabagh is the
Parish priest in Aleppo and spoke to Lydia O’Kane about the desperate situation
the people are facing there.
Ceasefire
Speaking about the effect of
the ceasefire Fr Ibrahim said, that “we could sleep easily in this night and we
hope really that this night could be a model for all the future nights. He
added, that it has been “so so hard for us to live under continuous
bombardment”.
Living conditions
Asked about the conditions
for the people living in Aleppo, the Parish Priest said, “the war is posing
many many difficulties and we are continuing to live (through) the results of
this war. We are at times without water; we don’t have electricity at all in
the city and no jobs. Many of the families are living under the level of the
poverty (below the poverty line)”.
Fr Ibrahim said the
Church was already providing humanitarian assistance on the ground. …“from what
we have from our benefactors we are trying to buy from the local market
what we need to prepare the elementary box and non-food items and to distribute
to help the people and to assist them directly and in a continuous way and
really as a Franciscan, as a priest I am proud of what the Church is offering
here in Aleppo.”
He went to say that he hoped
that international aid would arrive soon because the people are in huge need of
it.
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