[Today’s Prayer] "Syrian Transitional Government Appoints Foreign Military Officers, Including Chinese Uyghurs"

Reuters reported on the 30th (local time), citing multiple Syrian sources, that the Syrian interim government has appointed a number of foreigners, including Uyghurs, to high-ranking military positions.

According to reports, the interim government recently appointed Murhaf Abu Kasra, a member of the main rebel Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as defense minister, and announced on the 29th that it would appoint a total of 49 military positions.

At least six of them were identified as foreign nationals, not Syrians, Reuters reported.

Abdulaziz Daoud Khudaberdi, a member of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), a group mainly composed of members from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has been promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Syrian army. Two other TIP members have been confirmed to have been promoted to colonel.

TIP, which has been carrying out Uyghur separatist activities in China, joined the rebels during the Syrian civil war. The Chinese authorities call them the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and regard them as a terrorist group.

"It is a small gesture of recognition of the sacrifices made by Islamic jihadists in our fight for freedom against (Bashar) Assad," an HTS official was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Regarding the incorporation of foreigners into the Syrian army, Reuters noted that "the appointment of jihadists to senior military positions is a move that could alarm foreign governments and Syrian citizens who are concerned about the intentions of the new Syrian administration."

HTS, which leads the interim government, was launched as an organization linked to the Sunni Islamic extremist militant group Al Qaeda in the past, but later officially declared a severance of ties. After ousting the Bashar al-Assad regime on the 8th, HTS leader Ahmed al-Shara has emphasized to the international community his will to establish a normal state by announcing moderate policies that are free from fundamentalist overtones, such as banning the forced wearing of the hijab by women.

Source: News

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

Lord, we hear that the Syrian transitional government has recently been appointing foreign nationals of Islamic militants as military officers. Please have compassion on Syria as it moves toward a more extreme Islamic state with more jihadists in the new government.

May the name of Jesus, the One who will save his people from their sins, be preached among the Syrian people who are wasting their lives following vain Islam instead of God!

We pray that the Syrian nation, which has been filled with suffering and unrest, will be saved and restored in Jesus' name!

There are some people in Syria in particular who have come to faith in Jesus. As the new government is being built by Islamic militants, we ask that You would watch over and protect the Christians in Syria who are living in fear and insecurity, and that You would raise them up to be bold witnesses of the gospel every day, in Jesus' name!

May the global church partner with the Syrian church in prayer to witness the gospel of life to the Syrian people!

May the Syrian people rise up with the Gospel and become the high priests of the Arabs, praying and worshipping for the Arabs and the nations!