Posted on 05/18/2008 7:20:08 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
A leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq has been sentenced to death for the killing of the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho.
The archbishop of the northern city of Mosul was kidnapped in February by gunmen who attacked his car, killing his driver and two bodyguards.
His body was found in a shallow grave two weeks later.
The Iraqi government said the criminal court had imposed the death sentence on Ahmed Ali Ahmed, known as Abu Omar.
The US embassy in Baghdad welcomed the verdict.
Who are the Chaldeans? "Reiterating our condolences to the archbishop's family and community, we commend the Iraqi authorities for bringing the perpetrator of this brutal crime to justice," a statement said.
In the past, the government of Nouri Maliki has been accused by Iraq's Christian minority of not doing enough to protect them from persecution, the BBC's Caroline Wyatt reports from Baghdad.
Churches, priests and businesses owned by Christians have been attacked repeatedly. Kidnappings by Sunni and Shia groups, as well as criminal gangs, have been common since the US-led invasion in 2003. Many Christians have fled abroad.
The archbishop, 65, was the latest in a long line of Chaldean clerics to be abducted in Iraq.
The Chaldeans are the largest sect within Iraq's Christian community, which was estimated at 800,000 before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
ping
Ping of DEFINITE interest!
Score another point for the good guys.
How about two points on this one?:
- One, for executing an AQ.
- A second point, for a court in a Muslim country sentencing a Muslim to death for killing a Catholic.
Done!
Very good news. Iraq continues to move in the right direction.
Excellent.
They could drop a grenade in his shorts to save time.
I’ll double the two points once the AQ a**hole swings.
Killin’s too good for these miserable, cowardly, terrorist pieces of sh-—
Four stakes
A room, some rope
Bag of sugar
Couple dozen bullet ants.
I’m not in favor of the death penalty, but in this case there will be one less bad guy, that is if the execution ever takes place. As Saddam was executed immediately after his sentencing, I will look forward to a very fast one, or it probably won’t happen.
A “it makes sense” ping!
A very good sign of the progress being made there by a secular govt. Especially after hearing this week how the govt. in Burma is killing, persecuting, and driving out Christians.
Pope Benedict has brought attention to this crime, so that might be another factor in the finding and prosecution of the person.
Not one single word by the drive by media in over 17 years of our involvement in conflicts in Iraq that there were Christian lives to be saved....I'm speechless.
In Iraq, once the sentence has been pronounced, barring any accepted appeals, the execution must take place within 30 days.
We need that humane rule in this country.
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