Syria's embattled president marked Easter with a tour Sunday of an ancient Christian village recently recaptured by his forces, an important symbolic prize for his government ahead of coming presidential elections he appears poised to contest. President Bashar Assad's visit to Maaloula, 40 miles northeast of Damascus, served as a propaganda victory for his government in its quest to be seen as a protector of religious minorities as its civil war grinds on. Syria's civil war has seen Islamic extremists and radical foreign fighters join the fight and target Christians and their houses of worship.