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SYRIA: DALL'OGLIO IN RAQAA TO MEDIATE FOR HOSTAGES, REBELS
ANSAmed - Italy
July 30, 2013 Tuesday 6:25 PM CET
Holy See and Foreign ministry cannot confirm kidnapping
: ROME
(ANSAmed) Italian Jesuit priest Paolo Dall'Oglio went to Raqqa to
negotiate for the release of the Orient television crew with the
head of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, reports
a member of the Syrian opposition with whom the priest has worked with.
The claim has been corroborated by several sites run by Syrian rebel
groups, which reconstructed the last known movements of the Italian
priest before his disappearance. A video posted on Youtube and dated
July 28 shows Father Dall'Oglio at the Armenian church in Raqqa, in
northern Syria, speaking to a crowd of applauding youths. The priest
states during the meeting that Raqqa, a city in which both Kurds and
Arabs as well as Muslims and Christians are found, should become the
symbol of the liberation of Syria.
Opposition sites report that Dall'Oglio had an appointment in Raqqa
with the jihadists to mediate for the release of a crew of Syrian
journalists and technicians taken hostage a few days ago in the Aleppo
region. The first attempt reportedly fell through, while in the second
the priest was picked up and taken away.
At this point in the story the versions diverge: some say he was taken
hostage and other say he is involved in negotiations. However, except
for the Youtube video, no concrete confirmation has emerged. "So far
there has been neither confirmation nor denial of the kidnapping. The
information is puzzling and should be greeted with skepticism,"
ANSAmed was told by a diplomatic source following the case of Father
Dall'Oglio.
The source said that what makes the incident even more mysterious is
that this is the first time that the Italian priest has gone into
Syria without letting the Italian foreign service or the Damascus
apostolic nunciature know ahead of time, unlike the several other
times he visited the rebel-held territory in the northern part of
the country over the past few months. The Holy See has said that it
cannot confirm whether a kidnapping has occurred, while the Foreign
Ministry states that it cannot confirm rumors making the rounds on
Twitter Tuesday that the priest has been released.
"The conditions of the hostage taking he was reportedly subjected
to yesterday have yet to be verified," Foreign Ministry sources
told ANSAmed.
ANSAmed - Italy
July 30, 2013 Tuesday 6:25 PM CET
Holy See and Foreign ministry cannot confirm kidnapping
: ROME
(ANSAmed) Italian Jesuit priest Paolo Dall'Oglio went to Raqqa to
negotiate for the release of the Orient television crew with the
head of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, reports
a member of the Syrian opposition with whom the priest has worked with.
The claim has been corroborated by several sites run by Syrian rebel
groups, which reconstructed the last known movements of the Italian
priest before his disappearance. A video posted on Youtube and dated
July 28 shows Father Dall'Oglio at the Armenian church in Raqqa, in
northern Syria, speaking to a crowd of applauding youths. The priest
states during the meeting that Raqqa, a city in which both Kurds and
Arabs as well as Muslims and Christians are found, should become the
symbol of the liberation of Syria.
Opposition sites report that Dall'Oglio had an appointment in Raqqa
with the jihadists to mediate for the release of a crew of Syrian
journalists and technicians taken hostage a few days ago in the Aleppo
region. The first attempt reportedly fell through, while in the second
the priest was picked up and taken away.
At this point in the story the versions diverge: some say he was taken
hostage and other say he is involved in negotiations. However, except
for the Youtube video, no concrete confirmation has emerged. "So far
there has been neither confirmation nor denial of the kidnapping. The
information is puzzling and should be greeted with skepticism,"
ANSAmed was told by a diplomatic source following the case of Father
Dall'Oglio.
The source said that what makes the incident even more mysterious is
that this is the first time that the Italian priest has gone into
Syria without letting the Italian foreign service or the Damascus
apostolic nunciature know ahead of time, unlike the several other
times he visited the rebel-held territory in the northern part of
the country over the past few months. The Holy See has said that it
cannot confirm whether a kidnapping has occurred, while the Foreign
Ministry states that it cannot confirm rumors making the rounds on
Twitter Tuesday that the priest has been released.
"The conditions of the hostage taking he was reportedly subjected
to yesterday have yet to be verified," Foreign Ministry sources
told ANSAmed.