Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

SYRIA CONFLICT

Fears over missing Italian priest in Syria

Syria's main opposition group called Saturday for the immediate release of an Italian Jesuit priest, Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, who went to negotiate with jihadists and who is feared to have been taken prisoner

Published: 3 August 2013 15:14 CEST
Fears over missing Italian priest in Syria
Paolo Dall’Oglio taking part in a conference on the theme "Syrian christians" last year in Paris. Photo: AFP/Kenzo Tribouillard

The National Coalition said it "expresses its deep concern over the disappearance of Father Paolo (Dall'Oglio) over four days ago in Raqa and calls for the disclosure of any information that could help identify his location and ensure his safety."

"We urge all parties involved in the disappearance of Father Paolo to immediately come forward and release him," it added.

The opposition's statement comes a day after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights raised fears that Dall'Oglio has been taken prisoner by jihadists in Raqa, Syria's only provincial capital to have fallen out of regime control.

Reports had earlier emerged that Dall'Oglio went on Monday to meet with commanders of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) to try to negotiate peace between Kurds and jihadists and to plea for the release of activists kidnapped by the group.

ISIS is behind the kidnapping of several activists in Raqa.

On Friday, the Britain-based Observatory said activists who demonstrated outside the jihadist group's headquarters were told by ISIS that Dall'Oglio was their "guest".

Long based in Syria, Dall'Oglio is a fierce critic of President Bashar al-Assad's regime and its crackdown against dissent.

Known for his charisma and good relations with peaceful activists, he has lobbied several Arab and Western officials to support the democratic opposition for fear of the rise of radical Islamism.

On July 27, the priest posted a message on his Facebook page expressing joy that he was visiting Raqa.

"I arrived today in Raqa and I was filled with joy for two reasons. First, because I am in Syrian territory and in a liberated city, and second because of the remarkable welcome that this beautiful city has given me," he wrote.

No new posts have been made on his account since.

In its statement, the Coalition described Dall'Oglio as "a wise man of peace and compassion (who) has worked hard to encourage unity and cooperation amongst all Syrians".

Activists in Raqa, meanwhile, launched an online campaign demanding Dall'Oglio's release, describing him as "the patron of peace".
 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

SYRIA CONFLICT

Islamist Swedish brothers in jihadist death

Two Islamist Lebanese-Swedish brothers who left their Scandinavian home for Lebanon, have died fighting alongside Syrian rebels, their cousin and a local cleric said on Saturday.

Published: 3 August 2013 15:28 CEST
Islamist Swedish brothers in jihadist death

Hassan and Moatasem Deeb “were killed Friday in a rebel assault on the Abu

Zeid army checkpoint near Qalaat al-Hosn” in Homs province, Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim told AFP.

Their deaths have devastated their parents, who had already lost a third son Rabih to sectarian fighting in Tripoli last year.

Sheikh Mohammed said Moatasem, 18, blew himself up in a suicide car bomb at

the checkpoint, and Hassan, 21, died in the assault that followed.

The youths apparently did not die in vain, as the assault on the checkpoint

succeeded, said the cleric.

Cousin Jihad Deeb said that, although the youths had long been “deeply religious,” the news of their deaths hit the family hard.

While still in Sweden just a year ago, Hassan had started his university studies. And had he stayed in Scandinavia, Moatasem would have started his degree this year.

“But they left everything and travelled back to Mankubeen, where their parents have been living for two years now,” said Jihad.

Established to host families from Tripoli during a 1955 flood, Mankubeen later became home to people too poor to afford life in the heart of the northern port city.

Today, Mankubeen is an impoverished area that frequently gets dragged into

sectarian clashes pitting Sunnis from the Bab el-Tebbaneh quarter and Alawites

from neighbouring Jabal Mohsen.

Tripoli’s sectarian clashes erupt frequently, and their intensity has grown as a consequence of the war raging in neighbouring Syria.

Sectarian tensions in Tripoli see Sunnis generally supporting Syria’s rebels and Alawites, the Shiite spinoff group to which Bashar al-Assad belongs, backing the Syrian president’s regime.

Eighteen months ago, Moatasem and Hassan’s brother Rabih was killed fighting in one of those clashes.

The commitment to jihadist activities among family members goes further.

In 2007, one of the youths’ uncles was killed fighting alongside Islamists in a fierce battle against the Lebanese army in the Palestinian camp of Nahr al-Bared.

Another uncle is in jail in Germany over ties to Al-Qaeda.

Once they returned to Mankubeen from Sweden, where they had lived for several years, the young men “decided to cross the border and join Jund al-Sham”, said the sheikh, who stressed that no one knew of their plans.

Jund al-Sham is an independent jihadist group set up in 2012 and led by Lebanese radicals.

“Moatasem travelled first. He went to Qalaat al-Hosn eight months ago. Hassan joined him two months later,” Ibrahim added.

Jihad Deeb said “they had no work, and they lived in a poor area that has no state support. Most of us are not radicals, but you see many Al-Qaeda flags in Mankubeen.”

Asked why he believed his cousins joined the rebels, he added: “Hassan and

Moatasem really believed that Sunnis must fight there.

“But their father and mother are devastated. The father is near emotional

collapse. And you can imagine how their mother feels; she has lost three sons.”

The family was due to receive condolences from guests on Saturday, who

would “congratulate” them for their sons’ “martyrdom” in Syria, said Ibrahim.

AFP/The Local/pr

Follow The Local on Twitter</i

SHOW COMMENTS