Yes, Michael, the cleric is not in Syrian Orthodox robes. The article mentions various Christian groups in Iraq, both orthodox and Catholic.
IRAQ: KIDNAPPERS BEHEAD PRIEST IN MOSUL
Father Boulos Iskander
October 12 (Compass Direct News) � Iraqi kidnappers who abducted a Syrian
Orthodox priest three days ago left his beheaded corpse in an outlying
suburb of the northern city of Mosul last night. Father Boulos Iskander,
59, was snatched off a Mosul street on Monday afternoon (October 9) while
searching for car parts at local mechanic shops. The Muslim kidnappers
telephoned the priest�s oldest son soon afterwards, demanding $350,000
ransom from the family. After negotiations in several more calls, the
kidnappers gradually reduced their demands to $40,000 but added another
stipulation: that the priest�s church must publicly repudiate Pope Benedict
XVI�s remarks about Islam in his lecture in Germany last month. The family
managed to raise and pay the ransom, and the St. Ephram parish of the
Syrian Orthodox Church placed 30 large signboards on walls around the city,
distancing itself from the pontiff�s comments. But then the telephone calls
stopped. Fr. Iskander�s dismembered body was discovered last night (October
11) at about 7 p.m. in the remote Tahrir City district, two kilometers (1.2
miles) from the center of Mosul. His arms and legs had been severed and
arranged around his head, which rested on his chest. His remains were
brought to a local hospital, which then notified his church. News of the
priest�s murder reached Damascus as Patriarch Zakka Iwaz was meeting with
bishops of the Holy Synod of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. The
Bishop of Mosul Saliba Chamoun returned immediately from Damascus to Mosul
in time to conduct the funeral service this afternoon. He announced during
the service that he had been commissioned by Patriarch Iwaz to bestow on
the martyred priest an honorary title of �archimandrite,� a cleric just
below the rank of bishop. A Syrian Orthodox clergyman present at Fr.
Iskander�s funeral service today told Compass that at least 500 members of
the Mosul Christian community attended, many of them weeping
profusely. �Many more wanted to come to the funeral,� he said, �but they
were afraid. We are in very bad circumstances now.� Fr. Iskander is
survived by his wife, Azhar, sons Fadi and Yohanna, a married daughter,
Fadiyeh, and a daughter, Mariam, 13. �It is a very sad and difficult day
for us,� Bishop Chamoun told Compass. �Father Boutros was very active. And
he loved very much his mission in the church.� Yesterday Iraqi church
sources also reported that a Christian layman from Baghdad, Dr. Joseph
Fridon Petros, 55, was ambushed and killed while traveling home from Diala
to the capital. Ramadan Atrocities The deadly targeting of Iraqi�s
Christians has shot up since the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim month of
fasting now into its third week. According to the Catholic Asia News
agency, Islamist militants distributed flyers across Mosul after Pope
Benedict�s controversial lecture in Germany, demanding that the local
Catholic clergy condemn the Pope�s remarks about Islam. If they did not do
so, the threats said, �Christians will be killed and churches burned down.�
Underlining the warning against Mosul�s Christian community, armed
militants surrounded the local Chaldean Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit
on September 24. The attackers fired at least 80 bullets at the church,
damaging the eastern side of the building and shattering some windows.
Although the attack came shortly after 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning, no
services were in progress at the time and no injuries reported. In Baghdad
that same Sunday, two bombs that exploded near the Assyrian Orthodox Church
of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad�s central Al-Kerada district killed four
civilians, including the church guard, and wounded 14 others. The initial
explosion, set under the parish priest Ezaria Warda�s car, was timed to go
off as worshippers left Sunday mass, with a second car exploding a few
minutes later. Another armed attack was mounted in Mosul on October 2
against the convent of the Iraqi Dominican Sisters. No one was injured in
the hail of bullets, although the convent�s garden was set afire. After two
days, unknown militants returned to fire shots at Mosul�s Church of the
Holy Spirit on October 4, and again on October 5, injuring one of the
guards who required hospitalization. According to sources inside Iraq, some
of the Christian clergy have stopped wearing their clerical robes in public
to avoid inciting attacks. Iraq�s young Christian women have also become
open targets for insurgents plying the kidnapping industry over the past
two weeks. �In one case in Baghdad, the victim committed suicide after the
ransom was paid and she went home, because of the torture and sexual
violence she suffered,� Asia News reported yesterday. Another girl who was
subjected to gang rape took her own life while still in her captors� hands.
http://www.compassdirect.org/
