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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraqi kidnappers free archbishop |
| 2005-01-18 |
| The Catholic archbishop kidnapped in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul has been freed without a ransom being paid, the Vatican said. Pope John Paul, who had prayed for the archbishop's release, was informed immediately of the release, said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. "He changed his prayer to one of thanks," he said. A ransom of more than £100,000 had initially been demanded but the bishop was released without the payment of any money, the Vatican said. Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, of the Syrian Catholic Church, one of the branches of the Roman Catholic Church, was seized on Monday as he walked near his church in Mosul. A priest said gunmen forced the archbishop into a car and drove away. The Vatican branded the kidnapping a "despicable terrorist act" and demanded his immediate release. Mosul has been a hotspot for the violent insurgency in recent months. The reason for the kidnapping was unclear but Christians - tens of thousands of whom live in and around Mosul - have been subjected to attacks in the past. Christians make up just 3% of Iraq's 26 million people. The major Christian groups in Iraq include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians. There are small numbers of Roman Catholics. Officials estimate that as many as 15,000 Iraqi Christians have left the country since August, when four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul were attacked in a co-ordinated series of car bombings. The attacks killed 12 people and injured 61 others. Another church was bombed in Baghdad in September. |
| Posted by:tipper |