Fate of Jesuit priest missing in Syria remains unknown

The fate of a Jesuit priest who went missing in northern Syria last month remains unknown, Italy’s foreign minister said on Friday.

“We have been receiving various reports that turn out to have no substance and which often appear aimed at derailing the investigation,” said Foreign Minister Emma Bonino.

“We are dealing with warring groups,” Bonino said, referring to the case of Paolo dall’Oglio who disappeared in the city of al-Raqqa on July 28.

“We are groping in the dark really,” Bonino added.

Syrian activists earlier claimed that dall’Oglio was abducted by fighters from the Al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Bonino earlier said dall’Oglio is in the hands of “a local version of Al-Qaeda.”

The Jesuit has lived in the country for 30 years, spending most of that time rebuilding an abandoned sixth-century monastery called Deir Mar Musa, turning it into a center for Muslim-Christian friendship.

Sources

adnkronos

NCR Online

Image: CNS/NCR Online

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