Protests in Syria after the Christmas tree fire

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Monday night's video  showed masked gunmen setting  fire to a Christmas  tree
Protests broke out in Syria  after the burning of a Christmas tree, prompting calls for new Islamist authorities to protect  minorities.
A video posted on social media  shows masked gunmen setting fire to the  exposed tree in the main square of Suqaylabiyah, a  predominantly Christian town in central  Syria.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main Islamist faction  that led the uprising that  ousted President Bashar al-Assad, said foreign fighters  were arrested after the  incident.
HTS representatives  pledged to protect the rights and freedoms of religious and ethnic minorities in  Syria.
Thousands of  protesters took to the streets across the country - through Damascus and Suqaylabiyah in Hama  province. Two masked fighters appeared in a video on social media setting fire to  a Christmas tree  on Christmas Eve in  Syria.
Footage of the  scene that followed showed a  cleric from the  pro-government rebel group  HTS assuring  a crowd gathered in Suqaylabiyah that the tree would be repaired before  dawn.
The man then held up a cross in solidarity, something  Islamic hardliners would not  do.
On Tuesday, more  demonstrators took to the streets  to protest the  fire.
Some residents of the Kassa  neighborhood of Damascus chanted  slogans against foreign fighters in  Syria. "Syria is free,  non-Syrians must leave," they said,  referring to foreign fighters  accused by HTS  of being behind the  attack.
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In the Bab Touma  neighborhood of Damascus, protesters carried a cross and Syrian flags, chanting "we sacrifice our souls for our  cross."
"If we are not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we  did, then we  no longer belong  here," a  protester named Georges told AFP news  agency.
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Syria is home to many ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Shia  Alawites and  Sunni Arabs, who make up  the majority of the Muslim  population.
Just over two weeks ago, Bashar al-Assad's presidency fell to rebel forces, ending  more than 50 years of rule by the Assad  family. The HTS group will  rule Syria.
HTS began as a jihadist group -  advocating violence to achieve its goal of  creating a state governed by Islamic law (Sharia) - but in recent years  has adopted a more  pragmatic and less  intransigent approach.
As fighters marched  on Damascus earlier this month, its leaders spoke  of building a Syria for all  Syrians.
HTS remains designated a terrorist  organization by the UN,  the US,  the EU and  the UK,  although there are signs that a diplomatic shift may be  underway.
On Friday, the US  dropped a  $10 million reward for the  capture of HTS leader Ahmed  al-Sharaa after meetings between senior diplomats and representatives  of the  group. The United States is continuing its military presence in Syria. It  announced on Friday that it  had carried out an  airstrike in the northern city of Deir  Ezzor, killing two members of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist  group.
The presence of foreign fighters, Islamic  extremists or even regime  supporters, who have  an interest in causing insecurity and attacking minorities to  undermine the country's  stability, constitutes the  major challenge that the new Islamic leadership will  have to face.

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