Meanwhile, a Christian archbishop kidnapped in northern Iraq last month was found dead on Thursday, according to a Nineveh province official.Background here. This is another reminder of the barbarity of the Islamist insurgents in Iraq.
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho's body was found near the town of Mosul, where he and three companions were ambushed by gunmen on February 29.
The archbishop's driver and two security guards were killed in the ambush. Investigators believe the archbishop may have been shot at that time, the Nineveh deputy governor said.
Nineveh Deputy Gov. Khasro Goran, in Mosul, told CNN that the kidnappers had been in touch with the church and the relatives and wanted to be paid a ransom for the archbishop's release. The contacts ended a few days ago.
He said the apparent kidnappers had contacted relatives on Thursday and told them the body was in the eastern part of town. Relatives and authorities went to the location and found the body, which had gunshot wounds.
However, the Catholic news agency in Italy, SIR, quoted Msgr. Shlemon Warduni in Baghdad as saying the abductors told church authorities that "Msgr. Rahho was very ill."
"We do not know yet whether he died because of his unstable health or if he has been killed. The abductors only told us he had died," Warduni said.
Christians are a tiny fraction of Iraq's population, but insurgents have targeted their religious sites and leaders in recent years.
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