Assyrian Monitor Human Rights sources
learned that on the afternoon of July 4th, 2015, Al-Nusra kidnapped Franciscan
monk, Father Thiaa Aziz (41 years and holds Iraqi citizenship), from his
residence in the monastery of "Immaculate Conception" in Yacoubia, a
Christian village, iin Idlib Syrian province, north West Syria.
Father Thiaa Aziz was born in
1974 in the city of Mosul, Iraq, and holds a degree from the Institute of
Medicine in Mosul, and first wore the monastic dress of the Franciscan Order in
2002. He served in monasteries in Egypt for several years, and in 2010 he was
sent to Amman Jordan, followed by a transferr to Lathiqia in Syria, and finally
came to serve the Latin community in the Yacoubia village in the province of
Idlib, Syria, which today is controlled by Al-Nusra, an Islamic extremist group.
We in the Assyrian Monitor Human
Rights strongly condemn and denounce this terrorist attack, which affected the
father Thiaa Aziz, and before him the abduction bishops John Abraham and Paul
Yazici, Father Kayal, Mouawadh, Dalilao, Father Jacob Murad and others. These
are criminal acts which aim to attack Christian existence in these lands, and
confirm that the continuation of this violence against Christian religious
leaders in Syria will open the floodgates for sectarian and religious strife.
This will create an environment which will eradicate a Christian presence in
Syria.