| In the past six days, the town of Maaloula has already changed hands three times |
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's forces and rebel groups, some of which are linked to al Qaeda.
Combatants say the intensity of fighting over the town is due to its strategic location near the road leading from Damascus to the central city of Homs.
But fighting in an area with such religious symbolism could increase anxieties among the Christian minority, who have watched sectarian violence between majority Sunni Mohammedans and the Alawite minority overshadow the revolt against Assad's rule.