Iraq: Body of Chaldean Catholic archbishop is found near northern city

The body of a Chaldean Catholic archbishop kidnapped in Iraq last month was found just outside the northern city where he was abducted, the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad said Thursday.

Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was seized in Mosul and three of his companions were killed Feb. 29 when gunmen attacked them soon after he left mass. It was the latest violence in what church members call a series of attacks against Iraq's small Christian community.

Monsignor Shlemon Warduni, the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, told The Associated Press that the church in Mosul had received a phone call from the kidnappers on Wednesday telling them the archbishop was dead. They also told church officials where they could find the body.

According to a medical examiner in Mosul's morgue, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, the archbishop's body showed no signs of being shot.

The official said the body was in an early stage of decomposition, suggesting he died a few days ago, and that it was found partially buried under a thin layer of dirt.

At the time of the kidnapping, Rabban al-Qas, the bishop of the northern Iraqi cities of Irbil and Amadiyah, said the church was especially concerned because Rahho had health problems. He did not elaborate.

"We are hurt by this painful incident," Warduni told the AP.

A Mosul police officer also confirmed that the body of the archbishop was found. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

No one has claimed responsibility for the archbishop's killing.

Last year's International Religious Freedom Report from the U.S. State Department noted that Chaldean Catholics comprise a tiny minority of the Iraqi population, but are the largest group among the less than 1 million Christians in mostly Muslim Iraq.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi Christians have been targeted by Islamic extremists who label them "crusaders" loyal to U.S. troops. Churches, priests and businesses owned by Christians have been attacked by Islamic militants, and many have fled the country.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged last fall to protect and support the Christian minority.

Though most of Iraq has witnessed a decrease of violence over the past six months, the U.S. military regards Mosul as the last urban strongholds of al-Qaida in Iraq, and is engaged in a campaign with Iraqi forces to root out extremists from the city 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

In an interview in November with AsiaNews, a Vatican-affiliated missionary news agency, Rahho said the situation in Mosul was not improving and "religious persecution is more noticeable than elsewhere because the city is split along religious lines."

"Everyone is suffering from this war irrespective of religious affiliation, but in Mosul Christians face starker choices," he told the news agency at the time.

The Chaldean church is an Eastern-rite denomination that recognizes the authority of the pope and is aligned with the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican said at the time of the kidnapping the fact that the gunmen knew Rahho had been celebrating a religious rite indicated the kidnapping was premeditated.

Pope Benedict XVI deplored the death, calling it an "inhuman act of violence that offends the dignity of the human being and harms the peaceful coexistence of the dear Iraqi people."

In a telegram of condolence sent to the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, Benedict said he hoped that the "tragic event" would at least help build a peaceful future for the country.

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Associated Press Writer Alessandra Rizzo contributed to this article in Rome.