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 Dr. John Eibner speaks of "religious cleansing" in congressional testimonyWASHINGTON,  June 25, 2013  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr.  John Eibner, the CEOof Christian Solidarity International (CSI-USA), testified today in acongressional hearing that the Syrian civil war "could lead to the eradicationof religious minorities," including Christians, Alawite Muslims, Shia Muslimsand Druze.  The hearing was a joint subcommittee hearing of the House Foreign AffairsCommittee, held by Representative  Chris Smith  (R-New Jersey), andRepresentative  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen  (R-Florida).Eibner returned from a fact-finding and humanitarian aid mission to  Syria  on June 24, where he met with "many resilient and courageous Syrians, mainlydisplaced Christians and church workers." Eibner testified that "victimsrecounted to me the religious cleansing of Christian neighborhoods in Homs andQusair by armed jihadis who threatened them with death if they did not leavetheir homes.""A Christian woman told me that before she fled Homs, she had seen the beheadingin broad daylight of an Alawite girl who was pulled off a public minibus byarmed jihadis," Eibner said.   Eibner also spoke of churches in  Syria  being "desecrated after falling underthe control of the armed opposition," and "the targeted kidnapping ofnon-Sunnis." Eibner said he had learned of "a Christian girl who was kidnappedby armed insurgents and is now mentally deranged from the abuse." The kidnappingof two high-ranking bishops in Aleppo in April "is widely interpreted within theSyrian Christian community as a message to leave the country," Eibner said.Eibner called on President Obama to pressure  Saudi Arabia,  Turkey  and  Qatar to "end their support for armed Muslim supremacist forces in  Syria" and "tocooperate with  Russia  in encouraging an end to  Syria's  sectarian civil war,"noting, "We have already seen in  Boston  the tragic consequence of failure tocooperate adequately with  Russia  in combating the security threats posed byradical Sunni Islamism."Representative Smith thanked Eibner for his testimony, and commended CSI for its"bold and effective leadership."Christian Solidarity International is a Christian human rights group campaigningfor religious liberty and human dignity.  It has issued a Genocide Warning forreligious minorities in the Islamic Middle East.  More information is availableat  
  www.csi-usa.org.
 Contact:Joel Veldkamp515-421-7258SOURCE  Christian Solidarity International (CSI)