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Catholic Archbishop Abducted In Iraq
SecurityProNews
Staff Writer
2005-01-17
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A Roman Catholic archbishop has been abducted in Iraq, the Vatican has confirmed.
The missing archbishop, Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66 of the Syrian Catholic Church, was walking in front of the Al-Bishara church in Mosul's eatern neightborhood of Muhandeseen when gunmen forced him into a car and drove away, according to an article at FOXNews.com.
ABC News expands on this topic…
"The Holy See deplores in the firmest way such a terrorist act," a Vatican statement said, asking that he be freed immediately.
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 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."
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SecurityProNews is a daily online and email publication focusing on internet security issues.
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