MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA PRAYERS ASSYRIANS Assyrians pray for the release of abducted fellow Christians

Record ID: 276649

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA PRAYERS ASSYRIANS Assyrians pray for the release of abducted fellow Christians
  • Date: 1st March 2015
  • Summary: ICON OF VIRGIN MARY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ASSYRIAN CHRISTIAN, ANNA EDWARD, SAYING: "We hope that they (IS) release them (Assyrian families). We hope they release them and nobody dies and they all return."
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA59K9CZRZ6XBOY0IJPYN1OQZHF
  • Story Text: Syrian and Iraqi Assyrian Christians, living in Damascus, held a mass on Sunday (March 1), in Ibrahim al-Khalil church in Jaraman, near the Syrian capital to pray for the release of Assyrians who were abducted by the Islamic State in northern Syria.
    During the mass held in Assyrian language, attendees lit candles and prayed for the safety of the abducted.
    "We ask the kidnappers of the Assyrian families to release them as soon as possible. We are in the age of humanity, not barbarity. The barbarity age ended. We are in the age of internet, science and development. We hope we all return to our senses and show humanity and respect for others regardless of whether they are Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists or Hindus. In the first place we are all humans before we follow any religion or sect," said father Toum Stevokaka, Assyrian Christian priest.
    Islamic State militants abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages in north-eastern Syria on Tuesday (February 24), witnesses said.
    A Syrian Christian group representing several NGOs inside and outside the country has said it had verified at least 150 people missing, including women and the elderly, who had been kidnapped by the militants.
    "We hope that they (IS) release them (Assyrian families). We hope they release them and nobody dies and they all return," said Hanna Edward, member of the congregation.
    "Assyrians are my brothers. We are one people. Assyrians are one. We cannot differentiate between Iraqi Christians and Syrian Christians", added Tony Ashouri, Iraqi Assyrian living in Syria.
    The United States condemned the attacks in Hasaka and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the civilians taken captive.
    The State Department said hundreds of others remain trapped in villages surrounded by Islamic State fighters in violence that has displaced more than 3,000 people.
    This part of Syria borders part of Iraq controlled by Islamic State, where it committed atrocities last year against the Yazidi religious minority.
    Islamic State did not confirm the kidnappings.
    Almost four-year-long conflict in which more than 200,000 have people have been killed made many Assyrian Christians leave their homes.
    Before the arrival of Kurds and Arab nomadic tribes at the end of the 19th century, Christians formed the majority in Syria's Jazeera area, which includes Hasaka.
    Last year, Islamic State fighters abducted several Assyrians in retaliation for some of them fighting alongside the Kurdish YPG militia.
    Most were released after long negotiations.
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