ISNA Concerned for Welfare of Kidnapped Syrian Archbishops

The Islamic Society of North America expresses great concern over the kidnapping of the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops of Aleppo, Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Ibrahim and Metropolitan Paul Yaziji.  Both of them have been great champions of multi-religious understanding and cooperation. ISNA is concerned about their safety and well-being and earnestly appeals for their release.  Metropolitan Ibrahim and Metropolitan Yaziji consistently promote peaceful and compassionate values worldwide and commit to building bridges across religious boundaries.  Their leadership is a great gift for Syria and to all faith communities around the world. We pray for their safety and the safety of the Syrian people.  We pray to the Almighty God to instill mercy and love in the hearts of those who are in the position to free two leaders who have dedicated their lives to promoting values of compassion and forgiveness.  We beseech in the name of God, the Most Powerful over and above all human beings, to protect His servants from any harm. ISNA leadership received news of the incident while attending the Doha International Conference for Interfaith Dialogue in (DICID) Doha, Qatar.  They immediately worked with other religious leaders and the DICID Chairman to send a collective appeal for the release of the two Archbishops.  This appeal was included in the final declaration of the conference. CONTACT: Maggie Siddiqi, 202-544-5656