(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 8 - The Vatican nuncio in Syria said Sunday that the Islamist rebels who have swept to power in Damascus ending Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime had met with local bishops pledging respect and reconciliation and this deserved to see an end to western sanctions on the country.
    "The road is all uphill, those who promised that everyone will be respected, that a new Syria will be created," Cardinal Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio to Damascus, told Vatican News.
    "The rebels met with the bishops in Aleppo, assuring them that they will respect the various religious confessions and Christians, we hope that they will keep this promise and that we will move towards reconciliation and that Syria can also find a little prosperity.
    "The hope is that the international community will also respond, perhaps by abolishing sanctions, because they are a burden that weighs heavily especially on the poor people. I want to hope that the sanctions will be eliminated little by little". (ANSA).