Fears mount over fate of Italian priest who went missing in Raqqa July 31, 2013 12:17 AM By Lauren Williams The Daily Star BEIRUT: Concerns were mounting Tuesday over the fate of missing Italian priest, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, after he was reportedly kidnapped by Islamists in the northern Syrian town of Raqqa. Tributes and well-wishes flooded social media for the high-profile priest, calling for his kidnappers to release him swiftly. Dall’Oglio, who had run a monasteryin central Syria for more than 30 years, worked tirelessly to promote interfaith dialogue in Syria, especially as the country’s sectarian fault lines deepened over the course of the civil war there. An outspoken critic of the government of President Bashar Assad, Dall’Oglio was expelled from the country in November 2012. Dall’Oglio went missing Saturday after traveling to the northern city of Raqqa on the Turkish border, where Islamists forces have taken control. He had gone to meet with members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, to demand the release of others being held by the group and negotiate an end to fighting between Islamists and Kurds. News emerged that he disappeared Monday evening, with activists with the Raqqa Local Council claiming the priest had been kidnapped by ISIS. Members of ISIS were angered by the priest’s criticism of violence against Kurds on the Turkish border, Reuters reported. But a Roman Catholic aid organization, Aid to the Church in Need, said Dall’Oglio had likely not been kidnapped and had merely gone to take part in negotiations. The Vatican and members of his Church in Syria said they had no information on Dall’Oglio’s whereabouts. Read more: dailystar.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jul-31/225702-fears-mount-over-fate-of-italian-priest-who-went-missing-in-raqqa.ashx#ixzz2abZu0kfb
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 07:15:55 +0000
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