Syrian Christians gathered at churches in the country's capital Damascus on Wednesday amid tight security measures to celebrate their first Christmas after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. "Today there is a large deployment of security to protect the churches,

Although members of the Christian community said they are happy to see the Assad regime go, many are wary of their new Islamist leaders.

Demonstrations erupted in several Christian neighborhoods of Damascus and other parts of Syria on Monday demanding protection for Christians in response to the arson of a Christmas tree near Hama,