Since April 2013, the Syrian authorities say that they still have no clear information regarding the whereabouts of the two abducted bishops.
The Lebanese Bishop, Boulos Sayyah reported on al-Mada station that “there has been no clear information about the two abducted bishops in Syria, Paul Yazigi and Yohanna Ibrahim, since they were kidnapped.” He also said that even the authorities in Qatar don’t have a clear picture of the kidnappers and what they ask for in exchange.
Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, are the most senior church officials to be targeted since civil war burst in Syria. They were abducted on April 22, by armed men, while they were returning in Aleppo from a humanitarian mission in Turkey.
It is claimed that the two prelates are in the hands of a small group of rebels in the town Bshaqtin, 20 kilometers northwest of Aleppo. However, Syria’s Mufti, Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun believes that they are in Turkey.
The Greek government has sent an emissary to the Middle East in order to locate the clerics’ whereabouts, and has contact with governments across the region and the Syrian opposition. Antonis Samaras, has also appealed for help to Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch.
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