Grand Mufti of Syria: The kidnapped Orthodox bishops are alive and in Turkey
Oct 29, 2013: The Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Hassoun Badreddin , the spiritual leader
of Sunni Islam, claims he has information that the two Orthodox bishops of Aleppo,
kidnapped in April, are alive and outside the country. The news was reported by Interfax
-Religion. Elena Agapova, vice president of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society,
the Russian Orthodox organization that plays an active role in the Middle East and
takes care of delivering aid to the Syrian population reports: "According to information
from the mufti they are in Turkey."
Agapova states that 28 October Hassoun
met in Moscow with representatives of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. The
Grand Mufti believes that "there is the hand of the Chechen militants and Turkish
services behind the kidnappings" . According to the Syrian spiritual leader, the kidnapping
may be linked to Ankara's request to transfer the seat of the patriarchate of Antioch
from Syria to Turkey. During his visit to the Islamic University of Moscow, the same
Hassoun complained that at least 2 thousand Russians, mostly from the North Caucasus
, are fighting in the ranks of the armed opposition in Syria.
The Metropolitan
Boulos Yazigi (the Orthodox Church of Antioch ) and Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Youhanna
Ibrahim (the Syrian Orthodox Church ) were seized by a group of militants, who killed
their driver . The two Orthodox leaders were engaged in humanitarian work in the village
of Kafr Dael , near the Turkish -Syrian border. The Russian Orthodox Church has expressed
"deep concern" about their fate. "In all this time we have had no news of where they
are and how they are . There have been many rumors, but none of them has never been
officially confirmed" Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk , chairman of the Department
for External Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate told AsiaNews late August. (Source:
AsiaNews)