Abducted Priest Released in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq, JUNE 18, 2007 

After being kidnapped by unknown assailants and held for 12 days, Chaldean Father Hani Abdel Ahad has been released.

Monsignor Jacques Isaac, the rector of Babel College, visited Father Hani on Sunday at the Chaldean bishop's residence, AsiaNews reported.

Monsignor Isaac said the clergyman "is very tired, but in good condition. He was not mistreated" during his 12-day ordeal.

Father Hani, a 33-year-old parish priest at the Divine Wisdom Chaldean Church, was abducted June 6 along with five other young Christian men, all on their way to a seminary in Baghdad. The young men were released the following day.

Sources said the kidnappers had contacted Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly, demanding a ransom for the priest. There were conflicting reports about how the priest's release came about.

Father Hani's abduction took place just three days after the June 3 murder of Father Ragheed Ganni and three subdeacons in Mosul.

According to AsiaNews, Father Hani was the eighth Chaldean priest to be abducted in the capital.

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