WASHINGTON — The daughter of the imprisoned former mayor of a Syrian Christian town says her father’s ordeal has strengthened her faith in God for keeping him alive, as she works alongside religious freedom advocacy groups to secure his release. The advocacy group In Defense of Christians (IDC) held an advocacy day Tuesday on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
Before heading to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and their staff, IDC Executive Director Richard Ghazal gave remarks at IDC Headquarters highlighting the challenges faced by Christians in the Middle East as well as the imprisonment of Syrian Christian Suleiman Khalil. Khalil, who has been imprisoned for over a year and a half, served as mayor of Sadad, one of the world’s oldest Christian towns, from 2012 to 2016.
He is well-known for successfully driving the Islamic State out of his town when it came under attack in November 2015. The Syrian Transitional Government, which took over after the fall of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, abducted Khalil from his home in February 2025. He has been held in a Syrian prison without charges and without access to legal counsel, medical care and the freedom to practice his religion.
IDC warned that Khalil’s arrest sends the message that “Christians have no future in Syria.” “My father did his job protecting his town and his family,” his daughter, Natalie Khalil, said in her remarks at IDC Headquarters Tuesday. “It’s time to do my part to protect him and get him free.” Natalie Khalil told The Christian Post that she last saw her father in person in May 2025 when she visited him in prison.
“I visited him for like five minutes. That’s the only time that I went there, and I visited him,” she noted, recalling how both she