Archbishop 'freed in Iraq'

A Catholic archbishop kidnapped in northern Iraq was freed today, 24 hours after his abduction, a church official said.

Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of the Syrian Catholic Church was seized by gunmen in the city of Mosul.

“He has been freed and he is on his way home without paying any ransom,” said Potris Moshi, an assistant to the church leader.

Earlier, the Catholic news agency MISNA reported that his captors had demanded a £100,000 (€143,000) ransom for the release of the 66-year-old archbishop.

Christians make up just 3% of Iraq’s 26 million people.

The major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians with small numbers of Roman Catholics.