Please Pray for Kidnapped Iraqi Archbishop

The following is an update received today on kidnapped Iraqi Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho from Compass Direct:

Kidnappers have set today as the ransom deadline for the release of an Iraqi Archbishop abducted last week, a church leader said. The unidentified captors also added new conditions for the release of Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho, said Kirkuk Chaldean Archbishop Luis Sako. He declined to give further details in the interest of Rahho's safety. A church source close to the negotiations described the new conditions to Compass as "impossible to fulfill," requiring Iraq's Christians to carry out violent acts and actively support a particular political agenda. He said that the ransom sum had been raised to $2.5 million. Rahho, 65, was kidnapped last Friday (February 29) at approximately 5:30 p.m. while leaving the Holy Spirit parish in Mosul. The assailants gunned down his two bodyguards and driver and took him by force. The extravagant nature of the kidnappers' demands appears to indicate that their motives are political and religious, rather than only financial.

Please pray for the release of Archbishop Rahho today.