Aramean people: Aramean people (not to be confused with ‘Armenians’) speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Abraham, Moses and Jesus. They are the indigenous people of what was called in ancient times Aram- Nahrin, in our days it is called ‘Mesopotamia’.

Some Arameans today identify themselves with “Assyrians”, because of the spiritual colonial hate generating activities of the Western missionaries and diplomats in the Middle-East. Other Arameans became known as “Chaldeans”. However all of them are Arameans.

Again two Arameans killed in Iraq.

 

Dutch Version

 

The Aramean blood continues to flow in Iraq. Again, two Arameans have been killed in Mosul by terrorists. On 2-9-2008, the 65 years old East- Aramean Tariq Qattan was killed in Mosul by terrorists, even tough the family had paid 20.000 dollars ransom. On 30-9-2008 the East- Aramean Rafi Haddan was abducted and killed in Mosul by terrorists.

 

The Aramean nation in Iraq, also made know as “Assyrians” or Chaldeans, is targeted by terrorists, ordinary criminals and thieves who misuse the current chaos situation in Iraq to terrorize our nation. Because of insecurity, terror, killings and extortion, an important part of Aramean people have left Iraq for countries like Syria and Jordan. The list of killed Arameans is long, it includes clergy as well as laymen, amongst others:

 

West- Aramean Syrian Orthodox priest Paulus Iskandar killed in Mosul on 12-10-2006 by terrorists,
The West- Aramean Isoh Majeed Hadaya killed by terrorists in Iraq 22-11-2006
East- Aramean Chaldean priest Ragied Aziz Gannie brutally murdered in Mosul along with three deacons by Muslim extremists on 3-6-2007.
East- Aramean Chaldean bishop of Mosul, Mgr. Paulus Faraj Raho was abducted on 29-2-2008 in Mosul. His body was found on 13-3-2008 in Mosul and on 14-3-2008 he was buried in St. Addai Church in Karemlesh.
West- Aramean Syrian Orthodox priest Yusuf Adel Abud was killed on 5-4-2008 by terrorists in Baghdad and was buried on 6-4-2008 in the St. Paul and St. Cathedral in Baghdad.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13118&geo=1&size=A

09/02/2008 17:26

 

Fresh violence in Mosul, two Christians kidnapped and killed

 

The kidnapping of two Christians has ended in tragedy, after the family of one paid a ransom of 20,000 dollars. The community of Mosul hopes that the Muslims will strongly condemn the murders.

 

Mosul (AsiaNews) - The Iraqi Christian community is again in the sights of Islamic fundamentalists in Mosul: today news came of the death of a 65-year-old doctor, Tariq Qattan, kidnapped recently by a terrorist group. AsiaNews sources say that his family had paid a ransom of 20,000 U.S. dollars. But it was not enough money to free Tariq Qattan, one of the many Christians kidnapped by fundamentalists for extortion.

 

Also in Mosul, two days ago - although the news has just been released today - another Christian, Nafi Haddad, was kidnapped and killed. It is not yet known whether or not a ransom was paid. Despite the small signs of improvement that seem to come from Iraq, the Christian community is still witnessing more violence: Mosul has long been the theater of a genuine slaughter, forcing more than two thirds of the faithful to flee elsewhere in search of safety.

 

The diocese has paid a large tribute in blood in recent years, beginning with the tragic kidnapping of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, whose lifeless body was found last March 13 in an abandoned area just outside of the city. During the ambush that preceded the archbishop's captivity, the three men acting as his bodyguard were massacred by the terrorists.

In 2007, the Iraqi Christian community suffered 47 deaths, 13 of them in Mosul: these include Fr Ragheed Gani, murdered on June 3, and two other priests.

 

Between January 6 and 17 of this year, there was also a series of attacks on Christian property. A wave of bombings struck the Chaldean church of the Immaculate Virgin, the Chaldean Church of St Paul, which was almost destroyed, the entrance to the orphanage run by the Chaldean sisters in al Nour, a Nestorian church, and the convent of the Dominican sisters in Mosul Jadida.

 

The source for AsiaNews in Mosul hopes that the two latest homicides will be "forcefully condemned" by the Muslim community, which has just celebrated the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. Atrocities carried out "in the name of religion", and which violate the precepts of the Qur'an. "For centuries, the Christian community has contributed in a fundamental way to the development of Iraq. It is the duty of Muslims to respect and protect it, because we all believe in one God, as is written in the holy book".