BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered on Monday immediate repairs to a historic mosque in the city of Aleppo, a move likely aimed at containing Muslim outrage after fierce fighting between rebels and regime forces set parts of the mosque on fire over the weekend.
Government troops had been holed up inside the 12th century Umayyad mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in downtown Aleppo for several months before rebels fighting to topple Assad launched a push to liberate it this week.
Activist Mohammad al-Hassan said the army had been using the mosque as a base because of its strategic location in the center of the old city of Aleppo.
"It's all blackened now," he said of the mosque, speaking by phone from Aleppo.
But wait, there is more:
Videos posted by activists online show a large fire and black smoke raging inside the mosque on Saturday, and later, its blackened, pockmarked walls. Debris is strewn on the floors where worshippers once prayed on green and gold carpeting.
The videos are consistent with AP's own reporting on the incident.
"Assad's thugs set the mosque on fire as a punishment for being defeated by the Free Syrian Army," the caption on one video read, referring to the rebels fighting to topple Assad. The government on Monday said it pushed back the rebels from the mosque after the weekend fighting, though activists are giving conflicting reports on who controls it.
In another video, a rebel inside the mosque holds up a torn copy of the Muslim holy book, or Quran, saying: "These are our Qurans, this is our religion, our history."
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OK, shouldn't Muslim worldwide be going apeshit about it?
