Syrian Islamic leader says kidnapped Orthodox bishops are alive and in Turkey

 

Two Orthodox bishops who were kidnapped in April by rebel forces in Syria are alive, and are now being held in Turkey, according to the Grand Mufti of Syria.


Ahmad Hassoun Badreddin said that the abduction of the two prelates-- Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi, both of Aleppo— was staged by Chechen militants and their Turkish confederates. The Syrian Islamic leader’s account of the kidnapping differs markedly from the more commonly accepted report that the bishops were kidnapped by Syrian rebels.