Anglican leaders in Iraq feared dead
-29/09/05
Five lay leaders from the main Anglican church in Iraq are feared dead after failing to return from a conference in Jordan two weeks ago, reports The Times newspaper.
Canon Andrew White, the clergyman in charge of the church, said he had been told the five Iraqi-born Anglicans were attacked while returning along the notorious road linking the Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.
“It is the most dangerous area in Iraq,” he said, speculating that they may have been kidnapped or killed. No ransom demand has been received.
The missing are lay pastor Maher Dakel; his wife Mona, who runs the women’s section of the church; their son Yeheya; the church’s music director Firas Raad; the deputy lay pastor and their driver.
Canon White, who also works for the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East and was recently dubbed ‘the Vicar of Baghdad’ by Third Way magazine, said other members of the church thought the missing group may have been taken to hospital by American soldiers, but despite checking with the US forces in Iraq and the Pentagon there has been no news on their fate.
He believes they were not specifically targeted because of their religion. “The fact is that attacks on people on that road happen all the time, particularly on people who appear to be richer or middle class,” he said.
None of those who attend the church are traditionally Anglican, but it now has one of the biggest congregations in Baghdad.
The Right Rev Colin Bennetts, Bishop of Coventry, who said he was in Iraq for the opening of St George’s Church said: “We all saw this as a sign of hope and a new beginning under the desperate and despotic regime of Saddam,” he said. “Since that time the church has grown from a handful of worshippers to a congregation of hundreds. For them to lose their leadership in this way is a sad and terrible blow.”
Anglican leaders in Iraq feared dead
-29/09/05
Five lay leaders from the main Anglican church in Iraq are feared dead after failing to return from a conference in Jordan two weeks ago, reports The Times newspaper.
Canon Andrew White, the clergyman in charge of the church, said he had been told the five Iraqi-born Anglicans were attacked while returning along the notorious road linking the Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.
“It is the most dangerous area in Iraq,” he said, speculating that they may have been kidnapped or killed. No ransom demand has been received.
The missing are lay pastor Maher Dakel; his wife Mona, who runs the women’s section of the church; their son Yeheya; the church’s music director Firas Raad; the deputy lay pastor and their driver.
Canon White, who also works for the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East and was recently dubbed ‘the Vicar of Baghdad’ by Third Way magazine, said other members of the church thought the missing group may have been taken to hospital by American soldiers, but despite checking with the US forces in Iraq and the Pentagon there has been no news on their fate.
He believes they were not specifically targeted because of their religion. “The fact is that attacks on people on that road happen all the time, particularly on people who appear to be richer or middle class,” he said.
None of those who attend the church are traditionally Anglican, but it now has one of the biggest congregations in Baghdad.
The Right Rev Colin Bennetts, Bishop of Coventry, who said he was in Iraq for the opening of St George’s Church said: “We all saw this as a sign of hope and a new beginning under the desperate and despotic regime of Saddam,” he said. “Since that time the church has grown from a handful of worshippers to a congregation of hundreds. For them to lose their leadership in this way is a sad and terrible blow.”