THE murder of a Roman Catholic priest and an explosion in a Christian district of the Old City of Damascus, coming on the top of the kidnapping of two Archbishops more than two months ago, provide compelling evidence that Christians are becoming targets in the Syrian conflict - in the majority of cases from Islamic jihadist groups. Most of the Syrian Christians who have not fled the country are trying to remain neutral in the conflict; but they have been accused by some rebel groups of backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Jihadists, for their part, have a vision of a new Syria that is free of non-Muslims.

The circumstances surrounding the killing of Fr François Murad in a town in northern Syria on 23 June are still not totally clear. One report said that the priest was one

of three men shown being decapitated on a video posted on the internet. Later, however, the suggestion was that the filmed incident was unrelated to the killing of Fr Murad.

The Vatican on Monday, while confirming the killing of the priest, said that the circumstances were still "not fully understood". One report shortly after the murder said that Fr Murad had taken refuge with others in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land, in Ghassaniya, after the monastery of St Simon had been bombed and ransacked. He was apparently shot while trying to defend nuns and others in the monastery. But three witnesses later told The Daily Telegraph that Fr Murad was shot dead inside his own church.

It seems beyond doubt that those targeting the Christian institutions and Fr Murad himself were militant Islamists, members of the Jabhat al-Nusra or another jihadist organisation, and part of the disparate array of Syrian rebel groups.

The question whether Islamist groups or regime forces were responsible for the explosion in the Christian Bab Touma district of the Old City of Damascus last Thursday, in which at least four people were killed and many wounded, is still unanswered. There seems little doubt, however, that an Islamist group fighting government forces abducted the Syrian Oriental Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, Mor Yohanna Ibrahim, and the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, the Most Revd Paul Yazigi, who have been missing since late April ( News, 31 May). In the immediate aftermath of their abduction, Syrian Christians felt markedly less safe in their own country.

Open Doors, an international Christian charity, in a report, Syria: Church on its knees, released last week, says that there is "increasing evidence that in certain areas and cities Syrian Christians are being deliberately targeted. The Church in Syria is in danger of eradication."

The report quotes one Syrian church leader as saying: "There are areas where Christians have been intentionally displaced. And once the Christians have left, they have destroyed their homes, their churches, and everything. This is a clear message that you are not welcome to come back again."

THE Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Tim Thornton, criticised the Government's handling of the conflict in Syria this week, writes Ed Thornton

Speaking in the House of Lords on Monday, during a take-note debate on Syria and the Middle East, Bishop Thornton said: "The Government have, to date, wisely resisted the temptation of military intervention, but it remains a real concern to members of this Bench that the Government hold to the assumption that only by correcting the asymmetry of military power can President Assad be cajoled into serious negotiations with the opposition."

Bishop Thornton warned that arming the Syrian opposition might "lead to more bloodshed and accelerate spillover to the wider region". He argued that the Government's position "that Assad must go" had "become an obstacle to resolving the conflict". The fate of President Assad "must be a question for the transition process and not a precondition", he said.

Bishop Thornton lamented "the absence of any real political progress on Syria at Lough Erne last month" ( News, 21 June); this was "a truly regrettable blight on an otherwise successful G8 Summit".

Bishop Thornton also sought assurances from the Government that it would "continue to respond generously" to the "humanitarian disaster" in Syria. "What steps are the Government taking to ensure that donors' pledges are fulfilled without delay and that additional funds are provided to meet short-term and longer-term needs?"

In an address to Coventry diocesan synod last week, the Bishop of Warwick, the Rt Revd John Stroyan, said that Christians and other minorities in Syria "are understandably fearful of what may follow Assad. Putting in more weapons, or even troops, into this cauldron seems . . . highly dubious."

Western military intervention in Muslim countries "plays wonderfully into the extremist agenda and leads to the killing or exodus of many Christians", he warned. "An urgent humanitarian and diplomatic response, on the other hand, is surely essential."