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SYRIA: BATTLES RAGE IN ALEPPO'S GRAND MOSQUE: TWO PRIESTS MISSING
ANSAmed - Italy
February 27, 2013 Wednesday 6:01 PM CET
SYRIA: BATTLES RAGE IN ALEPPO'S GRAND MOSQUE
Two priests missing. Damascus university under shelling
BEIRUT
(ANSAmed) Battles are underway in Aleppo's Grand Mosque between
Syrian regime soldiers and rebels, ANSAmed was told on Wednesday
by activists from the Aleppo Media Centre contacted via Skype. The
mosque is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site and was attacked
yesterday by rebel forces after being under government control for
weeks. It was impossible to independently verify the information.
In several non-professional video clips posted on the internet by
sources with connections to Aleppo rebels, opposition forces say they
intend to attack the Palace of Justice not far from the Grand Mosque.
Meanwhile, two Syrian priests taken hostage by unidentified armed
men in the Aleppo region are still missing, but efforts are underway
to secure their release, ANSA was told by a source from Aleppo's
Armenian archbishopric contacted via telephone. The source confirmed
that nothing has been heard on the whereabouts of Father Michel
Kayyal, an Armenian Catholic, and Maher Mahfuz, a Greek Orthodox,
since February 9, when a bus they were traveling in was stopped by
militants and the two were forced to get out.
"We do not know who took them hostage nor in whose hands they are
now," the source said. "But negotiations and contacts are underway
to secure their release". Father Kayyal was an Aleppo resident while
Father Mahfuz was from the Greek Orthodox St George convent in Hmeira,
west of Homes in Wadi an Nasara ('The Valley of the Christians'). Two
mortar shells hit the Faculty of Literature and Art of a university in
the Syrian capital of Damascus, state-run TV said Wednesday without
providing further details. The faculty is in the western part of the
city's modern district.
ANSAmed - Italy
February 27, 2013 Wednesday 6:01 PM CET
SYRIA: BATTLES RAGE IN ALEPPO'S GRAND MOSQUE
Two priests missing. Damascus university under shelling
BEIRUT
(ANSAmed) Battles are underway in Aleppo's Grand Mosque between
Syrian regime soldiers and rebels, ANSAmed was told on Wednesday
by activists from the Aleppo Media Centre contacted via Skype. The
mosque is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site and was attacked
yesterday by rebel forces after being under government control for
weeks. It was impossible to independently verify the information.
In several non-professional video clips posted on the internet by
sources with connections to Aleppo rebels, opposition forces say they
intend to attack the Palace of Justice not far from the Grand Mosque.
Meanwhile, two Syrian priests taken hostage by unidentified armed
men in the Aleppo region are still missing, but efforts are underway
to secure their release, ANSA was told by a source from Aleppo's
Armenian archbishopric contacted via telephone. The source confirmed
that nothing has been heard on the whereabouts of Father Michel
Kayyal, an Armenian Catholic, and Maher Mahfuz, a Greek Orthodox,
since February 9, when a bus they were traveling in was stopped by
militants and the two were forced to get out.
"We do not know who took them hostage nor in whose hands they are
now," the source said. "But negotiations and contacts are underway
to secure their release". Father Kayyal was an Aleppo resident while
Father Mahfuz was from the Greek Orthodox St George convent in Hmeira,
west of Homes in Wadi an Nasara ('The Valley of the Christians'). Two
mortar shells hit the Faculty of Literature and Art of a university in
the Syrian capital of Damascus, state-run TV said Wednesday without
providing further details. The faculty is in the western part of the
city's modern district.