Archbishop Paulos Faraj Raho Kidnapped in Iraq

Mosul, Mar. 4, 2008 (CWNews.com) - While Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki promised an all-out effort to secure the release of kidnapped Archbishop Paulos Faraj Raho, the prelate's abductors contacted Church officials in Iraq with new demands that "complicate the case," the AsiaNews service has reported.

"Any assault on Christians is an assault on all Iraqis," the Iraqi prime minister said in a message to Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly. Al Maliki ordered troops to hunt for the gunmen who kidnapped the archbishop last Friday, February 29-- killing three of the prelate's companions, a driver and two bodyguards-- in the assault. MORE

Prayers for his release