Kurdish pastor Nihad Hassan arrested in Syria over posts

Syrian Kurdish Christian pastor Nihad Hassan has been arrested over social media posts, a church figure and a local official told AFP on Thursday.

The Kurdish Church in Lebanon said Syrian authorities arrested Hassan, pastor of the Kurdish Evangelical Church in Beirut, over posts attributed to him. The church appealed for his release and said he was being held in Afrin, a historically Kurdish-majority region in northwest Syria.

A local Syrian official, speaking anonymously, said Hassan was detained in Afrin over allegations of “inciting religious hatred” on social media.

An official from a Kurdish church in Lebanon, also speaking anonymously, said Hassan was arrested on July 19. The official said Hassan had recently made frequent visits to northern Syria and intended to re-establish himself there.

According to the church statement, Hassan is originally from the Afrin region and converted to Christianity in 2008.

Syria's new authorities have pledged to protect minorities in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country. Minorities have expressed increased safety concerns, particularly after sectarian bloodshed last year, while a deadly suicide bombing in a Damascus church also fuelled fears among Christians.