An-Nahar: Kidnapped Bishops are in Good Health

From an-Nahar, here.



Syrian National Council: Metropolitans Boulos Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim are in Good Health


An official in the Syrian opposition announced that the two bishops who were kidnapped last month in Northern Syria, Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi and Metropolitan Youhanna Ibrahim, are in good health, without offering any details about the identity of the kidnappers. Abd al-Ahad Steifo, a member of the committee delegated by the opposition Syrian National Council with following the situation of the bishops, said at the gathering of the Syrian opposition in Istanbul that, "For us, the only certain information is that a doctor visited the bishops two or three days ago and they are in good health."

He stated that the committee failed to make direct contact with the kidnappers and stated that "there is a lot of contradictory information about the identity of the kidnappers and their demands for ransom," adding that, "Criminal gangs sometimes do kidnappings of this sort. Sometimes the Asad regime is behind it and, let's be frank, groups from the Free Syrian Army sometimes do kidnappings of this sort in order to make exchanges."

He noted that, "the bishops are known in Syria for their humanitarian activities and their defense of peaceful co-existence between the various religious groups in Syrian society. Their kidnapping sends a message to Christians in Syria and the region and so we are eager to obtain their release."