Protests have erupted in Syria over the burning of a Christmas tree near the city of Hama.
A video posted on social media shows masked gunmen setting fire to a tree on display in the main square of Suqaylabiyah, a predominantly Christian city in central Syria.
A large group of Islamists that led the protest that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad said that the men who caused the arson attack were foreign soldiers and were arrested.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country, demanding new Muslim rulers protect religious minorities.
Two masked fighters appeared in a video on social media burning a Christmas tree the night before Syrian Christians prepared to celebrate Christmas Eve.
Footage of the aftermath showed a cleric from the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group assuring crowds gathered in Suqaylabiyah that the tree would be repaired before dawn.
The man then raised a cross to show solidarity, something the Islamists would not do.
On Tuesday, some protesters filled the streets because of this incident of burning cars.
Some in the Kassa neighborhood of Damascus chanted against foreign fighters in Syria.
“Syria is free, non-Syrians must go,” they said, referring to the foreign fighters HTS said were behind the attack.
In the Bab Touma area of Damascus, protesters carried a cross and Syrian flags, chanting “we will sacrifice our lives for our cross”.
“If we are not allowed to live our Christian religion in our country, as we used to do, then we are no longer here,” a protester named Georges told AFP news agency.
Syria is home to many ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Sunni Arabs, the latter making up the majority of the Muslim population.
Just two weeks ago, the office of President Bashar al-Assad fell to the rebels, ending the Assad family’s rule of more than 50 years.
How the HTS group will rule Syria remains to be seen.
HTS began as a jihadist group – promoting violence to achieve its goal of establishing a state governed by Islamic (Sharia) law – but in recent years has adopted a more rational, less uncompromising approach.
As fighters marched on Damascus earlier this month, its leaders spoke of building Syria for all Syrians.
The representatives have also said that the rights and freedom of religion and ethnic minorities will be protected.
HTS remains designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, the US, the EU and the UK, although there are signs that political change may be on the way.
on friday, the US forfeited a $10m (£7.9m) bonus. at the head of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, following meetings between senior diplomats and representatives of the group.
The US continues to have a military presence in Syria. It said on Friday it carried out an air strike in the northern city of Deir Ezzor – killing two members of the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group.
The presence of foreign fighters, Islamic extremists, or even supporters of the regime who are interested in creating insecurity and attacking minorities to try to shake the country’s stability is a major challenge that the new Islamic leadership will face.
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