JERUSALEM—Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Interim President of Syria and a former al Qaeda terrorist, allegedly failed to prevent the massacre of over 1,000 Syrians, including Christians, that began last Thursday and continued for several days.

Al-Sharaa and his organization, a U.S.-designated Sunni terrorist organization, reportedly ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December.

Christian leaders and human rights advocates have expressed significant doubts regarding the ability of al-Sharra’s Islamist government to establish a democracy capable of safeguarding vulnerable religious minorities.

Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of The Congress of Christian Leaders, stated to Digital, “This serves as a warning that the Syrian government is not ready to govern effectively if it cannot protect a small number of vulnerable Christians who were victims of this violence and had no involvement in it.”

Following the emergence of disturbing online video footage depicting Islamists committing massacres against Syrian Alawites, a minority religious group, al-Sharra claimed he would “hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who was involved in the bloodshed of civilians.” He further stated, “No one will be above the law, and anyone with the blood of Syrians on their hands will face justice sooner or later.”

Moore commented, “This clearly demonstrates the new government’s failure to fulfill its primary responsibility: protecting its citizens.”

He stated that foreign fighters, whether acting under the direction of or embedded within the Syrian government, or operating independently, “indiscriminately and grotesquely killed countless civilians, including a number of Christians, that we personally verified were killed. And the numbers are rising.”

Moore asserted, “The new government in Syria are ‘Islamists.’” He added that Al-Sharaa was previously affiliated with the Islamist State terrorist movement.

Moore criticized European nations’ approach to the Syrian Islamist government, noting that they appear to be rewarding the regime in Damascus.

“The fact that this occurred within 24 hours of the United Kingdom announcing the waiving of sanctions on the Syrian national bank and over 20 other entities is a warning sign to the entire Western world, and the EU commission is proceeding with its plans to hold a funding conference in the near future to assist the new Syrian government.”

Moore continued, “The U.S. response should be precisely the opposite. The United States should send a very clear message to the new Syrian government that there will be no sanctions relief and no normalization of its treatment until it proves its ability to protect all Syrian citizens, including its vulnerable Christians.”

Moore pointed out that Christians were killed and displaced during the Syrian civil war. In December, Nina Shea of the Center for Religious Freedom and Moore addressed the threat to Christianity in Syria after rebels seized the capital, as well as the U.S.’s role in protecting Christians.

The Christian population in Syria has significantly decreased since the beginning of the 2011 Syrian civil war. There are currently an estimated 300,000 Christians in the war-torn country, down from 1.5 million before the conflict.

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