Details Emerge On Kidnapped Syrian Bishops http://assafir.com/MulhakArticle.aspx?EditionId=2541&MulhakArticleId=1798538&MulhakId=6383#.UhFllX_hfbo
But some political and security officials in the Syrian opposition and the regime do not discount the possibility that the bishops are still alive. According to an Arab security authority, the head of the National Security Bureau in Syrian intelligence, Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, asserted that they are still alive and being held by the kidnappers in north Syria. The head of the Syrian National Council (SNC) George Sabra accused the Syrian Air Force Intelligence of kidnapping the bishops in Aleppo after the kidnappers handed them over to the regime.
[ed notes;opposition,including kilo are silly and pathetic...the same opposition admitted the jesuit priest was with ISIS and kurdish militia atempting to broker a peace,obviously so both can go against govt..wich means those groups he was with are responsible,likely isis or even kurds,who probably didnt tolerate meddling after casualties between groups increased tension and anger between both...
Sabra’s narrative aligns with Michel Kilo's May 8 comments to As-Safir. Kilo accused local militias of kidnapping the bishops, and he also accused Syrian Air Force Intelligence of involvementKilo asked himself, “Why would the regime [kidnap them] since the Syrian church stands with the regime and supports it without reservation?” Then he answered his own question by saying: Air Force Intelligence is holding the two bishops to turn the Christians against an opposition that kidnaps [bishops] and that is preparing to attack a mostly Christian neighborhood in Aleppo.[ed notes:there is no need to turn christians against opposiution,because they have been all along and are against the opposition,why need to create new reasons?nonsense,kilo is a fraud,always has been...heres the scenario that makes sense..below..
On April 19, a Syrian mediator in Damascus received 1 million Syrian pounds [about $14,000 at the time] — which he paid to several parties — to have the priests released. After receiving the money through the Patriarchate of Damascus, the mediator set an appointment at a gym in Sarmada one day before the kidnapping. Bishop Ibrahim came out of the meeting empty-handed. At night, the mediator contacted the bishop in Aleppo and asked him to return to the gym to receive the priests.[[[[Many sources said that a group calling itself Jund al-Khilafa, led by Abu Omar al-Kuwaiti, kidnapped the two bishops on April 22, minutes after they crossed the FSA Mansoura checkpoint northwest of Aleppo. According to experts on Syrian jihadists, the kidnappers consist of eight Chechens who belong to Abu Omar’s group, known until a few months ago as Jund al-Khalifa, before it changed its name to the Muslims’ Brigade.Abu Omar al-Kuwaiti leads a group of jihadists that include 200 Chechen fighters, according to experts on Syrian jihadist groups. Abu Omar’s father switched his sect from Shiite to Sunni. Omar’s true name is Hussein Laari. The inhabitants of the villages close to Bab al-Hawa doubt his Sunni or Salafist credentials. They call him Abu Omar al-Shi’i [the Shiite]. Abu Omar had sworn allegiance to Mohammed Rifa’i as the Muslim Caliph. Rifa’i is a veteran of the Afghan jihad and lives in London.]]]]When the two bishops were kidnapped, Abu Omar was at his headquarters and had his fighters deployed in the villages around the Bab al-Hawa crossing.[[[[ He was working under the eyes of Turkish intelligence, which coordinates arming and attack operations in the Aleppo countryside via a war room in Antakya. Abu Omar is assisted by Abu al-Banat al-Chichani, who is famous for having slaughtered many]]]].Abu Omar was in Turkey to coordinate the entry of foreign fighters to Syria, according to Abu Osama al-Iraqi, a close associate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and ISIS. Abu Osama al-Iraqi wrote to Baghdadi defending Abu Omar, denying accusations that he was an agent for the regime because his father used to be Shiite. On his website, Abu Osama wrote, “Abu Omar was on the Turkish side and played a major role in the introduction of immigrants to the land of Sham [Syria].”It is unlikely that the kidnappings happen in an area less than 20 km from the security area​​ of Turkish intelligence without the latter immediately knowing all what happened.That is not an accusation without support. Turkish intelligence was close to the kidnapping site and was sufficiently aware of its elements, because they know Abu Omar’s Chechen group and because they denied on more than one occasion that the bishops were killed, confirmed that they were alive and said they knew who the kidnappers were.Two weeks ago, the Turkish Zaman newspaper spoke of three suspects, a Chechen, a Russian and a Syrian, who were threatened with deportation from Turkey because they were accused being involved in kidnapping the bishops. Turkish intelligence was able to confirm their innocence because Turkish intelligence knew who really carried out the operation.(ed note;turkey provided them above with political cover,them or kurdish militia whom erdogan im sured hoped the jesuit priest dipaolo brokered peace talks between both,wich was the mission he was on escorted by fsa,and wich would suit turkeys interests) The “Arab groups” in the Syrian National Coalition and the opposition don’t have that information.Church sources said, “Turkish intelligence told us after a review that those accused by the Turkish press were just asylum seekers who returned from Syria, that and the bishops are still alive, but there is no evidence of that. [[[[[We received no messages from them.” But how can Turkish intelligence know that if it wasn't in contact with the kidnappers?]]]]][[[[[[The FSA was the last to see the bishops in the kidnappers’ hands that day. When the four-wheel-drive and the Kia took off and headed north toward Bab al-Hawa, at 4 p.m. on April 22, they passed the FSA Mansoura checkpoint. The first witness to the kidnapping is Eliya, who said, “When we reached the checkpoint, the Chechens took out hand grenades and explosives and threatened to blow up their convoy and their hostages if the checkpoint personnel tried to stop them.” Along the 20 km toward Bab al-Hawa, the FSA set up four checkpoints, none of which were able to find the kidnappers’ convoy, who quickly disappeared.]]]]]]The investigationThere are many gaps in the investigations of all parties. Those gaps will cost the bishops a prolonged detention, loss of contact and further risking the life of Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio by sending him to Raqqa, ISIS’ stronghold. The disappearance of Dall’Oglio, a Jesuit priest of Italian origin and the president of Mar Musa monastery, was due to his mediation in the bishops’ case with ISIS, said one Western source to As-Safir. The source added, “The mission took place with the knowledge and consent of the president of Congregation for Eastern Churches at the Vatican Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.”An activist in Raqqa said that those close to the “emirs” Abu Luqman and Abu Hamza killed the Jesuit priest, who worked as an intermediary in the kidnapping of French journalists by ISIS fighters a month and a half ago in Raqqa. French authorities have remained silent about the kidnapping.[[[[The bishops’ kidnapping was never subject to a serious investigation. From the outset, the matter was used to politically accuse the Syrian regime without any evidence. And that allowed those trying to collect ransoms to get involved with the church, the National Coalition and the FSA]]]]].This is the conclusion reached by all those who worked on the investigation in its initial days. There is still not a single testimony indicating any meeting between mediators, doctors and bishops, as some officials have claimed.No one looked into the small message written in Greek and sent by Bishop Yazigi to a friend in Greece and to his brother Yohanna. The message, written in Greek, said, “We are being held by al-Qaeda.”The regime’s investigation didn’t get far — just two short meetings. One was held by military security with Eliya after his return to Aleppo from a trip looking for the bishops in the city's countryside. Another meeting two weeks later was with Air Force Intelligence to hear what happened.