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Syria: Abducted Franciscan priest freed


The Franciscan parish priest who was abducted in Syria on 23 December, has now been freed. The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land have just released a short statement today confirming that Fr Dhiya Azziz is safe and doing well. No further details have been given given "due to confidentiality reasons." The Franciscans thanks "all those who helped us to liberate him."

The 41-year-old friar, who is now in Damascus, is the parish priest in the town of Yacoubieh, in Idlib province, in an area under the control of a faction of jihadist rebels. Contacts were lost on Christmas eve, while he was making his way back from Turkey to his parish.

Fr Aziz had been visiting family who took refuge in Turkey. The Custody of the Holy Land had then issued a statement in which there was the hypothesis that he had been "taken by some group."

This is the second time Fr Azziz has been kidnapped in the last few months. In July he was abducted by a group of jihadists and released after a few days. On that occasion, the priest had been taken by a brigade of militants for a short meeting with the Emir who exercised authority in the region. At that time the Jabat al-Nusra jihadist group, who operatein the area, had denied any involvement in the kidnapping.

Source: Fides

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