(AsiaNews) - "The pope's
Day of Prayer for Syria is fundamental
to open the door to a peaceful solution, in lieu of military action that would increase even more the suffering of the peoples of Syria and Lebanon," Ridwan
Al-Sayyid told AsiaNews. A Muslim and an Islam expert for the al-Ijtihad magazine, he taught Islamic studies at Harvard
and the University of Chicago (United
are grateful to the pope for his efforts in favour of peace," Al-Sayyid
noted. "Our hope is that the Day of Prayer on 7 September
and appeals by Francis against
the war will stop the crisis
in Syria and Lebanon". In his view, Muslims will join the initiative and will do everything to spread it.
For al-Sayyid, everyone in Syria and Lebanon is suffering from the violence of the war between the Bashar al-Assad's regime
no one has looked at a diplomatic
solution to the conflict," he explained. "This has led
to the war spilling over into Lebanon, making it impossible for the various warring
factions to find reconciliation in the short term."
For the scholar, the international
community must listen to Pope Francis.
His conclusion is that "Syria needs peace.
Hizbollah's intervention, outside forces and the US move towards military
action could lead to a war throughout the region."