Mosul, Oct. 22, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Two Chaldean Catholic priests who had been kidnapped in Mosul, Iraq, on October 13 were released on Sunday, October 21.
Father Mazen Esho and Father Pius Affas were reportedly unharmed by their captors. Their release ended a tense and confused episode that began when the two priests were seized as they traveled to their church in Mosul, threatened with death, and then held for ransom.
After earlier inaccurate reports that ransom had been paid and the priests had been released, the Chaldean Archbishop Basile Casmoussa of Mosul -- himself a kidnapping victim in January 2005-- disclosed that the abductors had demanded $1 million: a sum the Church in Mosul could not raise. The kidnappers had then broken off contact with Chaldean Church officials, even turning off cell phones they had been using, thus raising fears for the priests’ safety.
The release of Fathers Esho and Affas came just as Pope Benedict, during a visit to Naples, was renewing his plea for the peaceful release of the hostages.