The death of a senior Christian churchman who had been kidnapped in Iraq has been denounced by the Pope as an "act of inhuman violence." Paulos Faraj Rahho was the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul. His body has been found half-buried near the northern city, where he was seized shortly after leaving Mass at the end of last month. It is unclear if his captors killed him or he died from ill health.Members of the autonomous Chaldean Church make up most of Iraq's Christians and recognize the Pope. Vatican Spokesman Father Lombardo said: "We had hoped that the bishop could be freed but this has not happened. We are near to the community of the Christians in Iraq, a little community that has so big difficulties and terrible violence against it."
The archbishop's driver and two guards were killed during his abduction. Reacting today to the churchman's death, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki put the blame on al Qaeda.