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Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city

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  • Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city

    17:29 27/02/2014 » IN THE WORLD
    Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city

    An al Qaeda splinter group has demanded that Christians in a Syrian
    city it controls pay a levy in gold and curb displays of their faith
    in return for protection, according to a statement posted online on
    Wednesday, Reuters reported.



    The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), mainly composed of foreign
    fighters, is widely considered the most radical of the groups fighting
    President Bashar al-Assad, and is also engaged in a violent struggle with
    rival Islamist rebels.

    Its directive to Christians in the eastern city of Raqqa is the latest
    evidence of the group's ambition to establish a state in Syria founded on
    radical Islamist principles, a prospect that concerns Western and Arab
    backers of other rebel groups fighting Assad.

    ISIL said it would ensure Christians' safety in exchange for the levy and
    their adherence to restrictions on their faith, citing the Islamic legal
    precept of 'dhimma.'

    It said Christians must not make renovations to churches or other religious
    buildings, display religious insignia outside of churches, ring church
    bells or pray in public.

    It demanded every Christian man pay a tax of up to 17 grams of gold, a levy
    that was common in Muslim states centuries ago.

    The directive also bans Christians from owning weapons and from selling
    pork or wine to Muslims or drinking wine in public.


    http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2014/02/27/islam-reuters/

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