Apr 26, 2013

Assyria: Two High-Ranking Church Officials Abducted


Picture@james_gordon

Following the kidnapping of Metropolitan Paul Yazigi and Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) called upon the international community to create a "safe haven" for the Assyrians and the immediate release of the two abductees.

Below is an article published by the Assyrian Universal Alliance:

On Monday, April 22, 2013 the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo reported that Metropolitan Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo and Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo, were abducted while travelling together on the road between Antioch and the north Syrian city of Aleppo.  The kidnapping of these two high-ranking church officials is a clear act of intimidation aimed at driving out the Christians from their historical lands.

The Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) strongly condemns this act of terrorism and appeals to world’s governments, the United Nations, all the international and regional governmental organizations for their immediate intervention to secure the release of the two Metropolitans and to pay attention to the plight of the Assyrians in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Iraq. The defenseless Christian minorities are caught in the cross-hairs of sectarian violence and have become the number one target for criminals and terrorists in the region. Assyrians, the indigenous ethno-linguistic minority, in particular, are the direct target of a quiet and systematic campaign of uprooting aimed at driving them out of their ancestral lands.

We call on the regional and progressive governments worldwide and the United Nations to stand for the rights of the Assyrians and support the establishment of a protected and self-governed safe haven for our people where other Syrian ethnic and religious minorities may also live freely in peace.

Executive Board

Assyrian Universal Alliance