Archbishop kidnapped in Iraq is freed

[_DigitaLVampirE_]

1/18/2005, 6:25 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — A Catholic archbishop kidnapped in northern Iraq was freed Tuesday without any ransom being paid, a day after he was seized by gunmen, the Vatican said.
Pope John Paul II, who had prayed for the bishop's release, was informed immediately of the release, said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

"He changed his prayer to one of thanks," Navarro-Valls said.

The Vatican's confirmation of the release of Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, of the Syrian Catholic Church, one of the branches of the Roman Catholic Church, came shortly after one of his assistants in Iraq had announced his release.

"He has been freed and he is on his way home without paying any ransom," said Potris Moshi, an assistant to the church leader.

The Vatican had branded the kidnapping a "despicable terrorist act" and demanded that he be freed. The Vatican said that a ransom of $200,000 had been initially demanded.

A priest in Iraq said on condition of anonymity that the archbishop was walking in front of the Al-Bishara church in Mosul's eastern neighborhood of Muhandeseen on Monday when gunmen forced him into a car and drove away.

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 percent 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 coordinated series of car bombings. The attacks killed 12 people and injured 61 others.

Another church was bombed in Baghdad in September.

However, Navarro-Valls said the Vatican didn't view the kidnapping as an anti-Christian act as such but as part of the general climate of violence. He said the archbishop was well-loved in the community.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/topstori...xml&storylist=

[_thetruth]

It's wrong to imprison humans against their wills.
Glad he is ok

[_DigitaLVampirE_]

I'm most pleased to learn the Vatican didn't announce it as an "anti-Christian" act, unlike some.

[_thetruth]

Originally posted by _DigitaLVampirE_
I'm most pleased to learn the Vatican didn't announce it as an "anti-Christian" act, unlike some.

LOL tell me about it.
I must say that there's bad people in every religion don't think that the Religious muslims are perfect I heard of a guy who claims that stealing from a non muslim is HALAH(Bloody idiots)another one who is in Prison now thank GOD told the court that killng Americans and the Jews is a duty upon all Muslims(Where did he get that Fatwas from? God knows best)