Syria militants claim Christians agreed to pay tax
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AMMAN - Militant fighters should not impose an Islamic tax on Christians in Syria, a radical Jordanian preacher facing terrorism charges said Thursday, days after an al-Qaeda breakaway group in Syria claimed Christian leaders under its control agreed to pay the tax in return for protection.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant said in a document that its first "Aqed al-Thima," Arabic for protection pact, was reached in a meeting last Thursday with 20 Christian leaders in the northern province of Raqqa, a bastion for the Islamic State.
The authenticity of the two-page document circulating online since Wednesday could not be independently verified, but such issues have stoked fears in Syria's Christian minority community that they are being targeted by extremists among the fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. (AP)
