Tag: Kidnapping

Philippines: Catholic priest, Marawi hostage for almost 4 months, tries to find healing

May 24, 2018 Philippines Islamic State, Kidnapping, Marawi, Maute, Philippines, Teresito Suganob

Fr. Teresito “Chito” Suganob in a still taken from an IS propaganda video posted on 30 May last year.

One year after Islamist militants stormed the southern Philippines city of Marawi and 8 months since his escape from his kidnappers, Catholic priest Father Teresito Suganob is trying to find healing for himself and his nation, reported UCAN. Father Suganob was one of around 200 people who were taken hostage . . . Read More

Kidnapping fears for missing Coptic newlywed

May 8, 2018 Egypt Aswan, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Kidnapping, Marriage, Minya, Qalyubia, Qena, Samalut, Sharqia, Sohag, Upper Egypt, Women

A Coptic Christian woman who had been married for two weeks went missing from her school last Wednesday, sparking fears that she may have been kidnapped. Her disappearance brings to eight the number of Coptic women in Egypt who have gone missing since April, according to research by World Watch . . . Read More

Egypt’s disappearing Coptic women and girls

May 1, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Cairo, Children, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Kidnapping, Marriage, Minya, Qalyubia, Qena, Sharqia, Sohag, Women

At least seven Coptic Christian women and girls disappeared in Egypt last month, in what is becoming a recurring phenomenon. In each case, the family of the woman says she was abducted by a Muslim who wished to convert her to Islam and marry her. All of the disappearances have been . . . Read More

Five years on, hope remains for missing Syrian bishops

April 27, 2018 Syria Aleppo, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Kidnapping, Qatar, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Yohanna Ibrahim

Syrian Bishop Boulos Yaziji, head of the Greek Orthodox church in Aleppo, together with his counterpart from the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo, has been missing since 22 April 2013. (Photo: LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images)

Five years since the disappearance of two Syrian bishops, the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Beirut says “all available evidence and indications encourage continued optimism” that they may yet be alive and one day released. However, its statement added that “all the efforts that have been made to obtain even a . . . Read More

Nigerian Christian schoolgirl ‘escaped’, only to be sent back to Boko Haram

April 4, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Dapchi, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Kidnapping, Leah Sharibu, Nigeria, Religious freedom, Yobe

Leah Sharibu, 14, was abducted by Boko Haram on 19 February 2018. (Photo from family)

The only Christian among the 110 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last month by Boko Haram ran away from her kidnappers but was caught and brought back three days later, according to fellow captives, reports the UK’s Guardian newspaper. Leah Sharibu, 14, and two other girls walked for three days and, hungry and exhausted, . . . Read More

Pakistan Senate seeks same sentences for blasphemy offenders and those who falsely accuse

March 13, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Elections, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Kidnapping, Marriage, Pakistan, Patras Masih, Sajid Masih, Sharia, Women

In November there were widespread anti-blasphemy protests in Islamabad and other cities in reaction to proposed changes to an election law. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Pakistan’s Senate Special Committee on Human Rights has recommended that those who falsely accuse someone of blasphemy should receive the same punishment as those convicted of blasphemy. The Committee also said registration of a blasphemy case should include a minimum of two witnesses who support the charges. Right-wing political parties . . . Read More

Fears of ‘another Chibok’ after Boko Haram school attack

February 22, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Dapchi, Islamic extremism, Kidnapping, Leah Sharibu, Nigeria, Yobe

Some of the 21 girls who were released in October 2016. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Fears are growing that the girls still missing after Boko Haram attacked a boarding school in Nigeria’s north-eastern state of Yobe on Monday night (19 February) have been taken by the militant group. The attack comes almost four years after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok, . . . Read More

Malaysia’s reputation as moderate Muslim nation hangs by a thread

February 9, 2018 Malaysia Children, Churches, Converts, Donald Trump, Hudud, Islamic extremism, Joshua Hilmy, Kidnapping, Malaysia, Minorities, Najib Razak, PAS, Raymond Koh, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, UMNO, USA, Wahhabism

Malaysia is seen by most Western countries as one of the moderate Muslim nations, an ally to be cultivated and befriended in the battle against militant Islam. The country’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was among one of the leaders to visit US President Donald Trump in his first year of . . . Read More

Father Tom releases book about 18 months’ captivity in Yemen

February 7, 2018 Yemen Aden, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ansar al-Sharia, Catholics, Hodeidah, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Sana'a, Taiz, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

The Indian priest who spent 18 months in captivity in Yemen has released an autobiography. Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, who was freed in September 2017, has titled the book ‘By the Grace of God’. The priest, who is 58, presented his book during a meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of . . . Read More

Kidnapped Colombian nun appears in another hostage video

January 30, 2018 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Gloria Argoti, Kidnapping, Mali

A new video of the Colombian nun kidnapped in the south of Mali almost a year ago has been released on the Internet. Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti, of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, was kidnapped on 7 February 2017 in Karangasso. “We have seen the video and we . . . Read More

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