3 Days Since The Overthrow Of Assad, Pope Francis Asks Religions In Syria To Respect Each Other

JAKARTA - The leader of the World Catholic Church, Pope Francis, asked interfaith in Syria to be respectful.

The Pope's call comes three days after Bashar Assad's ouster by militant insurgent groups.

"I pray... that the Syrian people can live in peace and security in their beloved homeland and different religions can walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of the nation suffering from war for years," the Pope said at a weekly general audience, Wednesday 11 December, quoted from AFP.

Syria is currently controlled by rebel groups after the era of Bashar Assad's family of more than 50 years was ousted. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group is the holder of the current militant alliance in Syria.

The United States (US) will also discuss the situation with Turkey in support of HTS to overthrow Bashar Assad.

The US Secretary of State (Menlu) Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit Turkey on Friday this week.