CBS EVENING NEWS to Cover Christian Refugees Amidst Syrian Civil War Tonight

By: Tyler Peterson Feb. 21, 2013

CBS News Foreign Correspondent Clarissa Ward reports that an ancient Community of Christians may be the next casualty of the civil war in Syria. The report will be broadcast tonight, Feb. 21 on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH Scott Pelley (6:30-7:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.

In tonight's report, Ward visits a convent in the mountains of Lebanon that serves as a refuge for Christians who have been forced from their homes in Syria. Christians make up 10 percent of Syria's population and are now caught up in a war increasingly dominated by Islamic militants. Ward reports that many Christians in Syria worry they could face religious persecution if the Islamic rebels win.

Ward speaks with Father Simon Faddoul, President of the Catholic Caritas Charity, and Sanharib Aphram, a Syrian man who made the dangerous journey from his country to Lebanon two months ago with his wife and three children.

"We came to Lebanon because there is no more living in Syria," Aphram tells Ward. "It's dead there."

Patricia Shevlin is the Executive Producer of the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH Scott Pelley.