A list of prominent people missing in Syria

15/3/14

BEIRUT — With the release of 13 Greek Orthodox nuns held hostage by the  al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Syria for over three months, here’s a list of  some other prominent people, including clerics, journalists and activists still  missing in Syria and believed in the captivity of rebels. Many are thought to  have taken by radical factions, in particular the al-Qaida breakaway group known  as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

CLERICS

Two bishops and a priest have been missing since last April, according to  Syrian opposition activists and church officials. Gunmen pulled Bishop Boulos  Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Bishop John Ibrahim of the Assyrian  Orthodox Church from their car and killed their driver on April 22 while they  were traveling outside the northern city of Aleppo. It is not clear who abducted  the priests and no group has publicly claimed it is holding them.

An Italian Jesuit, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, went missing in July after  traveling to meet Islamic militants in the eastern city of Raqqa. The city fell  into rebel hands in March and was subsequently taken over by radicals including  the Islamic State.

ACTIVISTS

Syria’s leading human rights lawyer, Razan Zaytouni, was abducted along with  her husband and two other prominent activists from a rebel-held Damascus suburb  Dec. 10. Zaytouni is an icon of Syria’s secular revolutionaries. Nobody claimed  responsibility for her abduction, but it came after she wrote an article  denouncing the Islamic State.

Abdullah Khalil, also a human rights lawyer, has been missing since last May.  Khalil became the head of the local council in Raqqa. Khalil was last seen on  May 18, when was taken away by unidentified armed men as he was leaving his  office.

According to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, some 60 Syrian  opposition activists have been abducted since last spring in from northern areas  controlled by Islamic State. Most have been released but as of December, 22 were  still being held.

JOURNALISTS

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists estimates about 30  international and local reporters are currently in captivity. Most of the  kidnappings over the past six months have occurred in opposition-held parts of  northern and eastern Syria. They include among others two Spanish journalists,  El Mundo reporter Javier Espinosa and freelance photo journalist Ricardo Garcia  Vilanova; French journalists Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and  Pierre Torres; and a Lebanese, a Mauritanian and a Jordanian national of  Palestinian origin.

The spike in abductions of journalists while on assignment in the  opposition-held areas in northern Syria prompted major news organizations,  including The Associated Press, to call for urgent action. It called on rebel  leaders to assist in identifying groups currently holding journalists and take  the steps necessary to bring about their release.

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