Prominent Italian Jesuit priest abducted in SyriaJuly 30, 2013 - 11:39 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Al Qaeda-linked rebels in the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa on Monday, July 29 abducted a prominent Italian Jesuit priest who championed the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to Israel National News. Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant reportedly kidnapped the priest, Paolo Dall'Oglio, while he was walking in the city which recently fell under the control of Islamist brigades. Syrian authorities expelled Dall'Oglio from the country last year after he helped victims of Assad's military crackdown from a monastery north of Damascus. Over the past several weeks, a second civil war has begun brewing in war-ravaged Syria, between the more moderate, Western-backed rebel groups and the Islamist extremist groups. The 13-member Islamic Front for the Liberation of Syria, which split off from the Syrian National Council opposition force, declared the northern commercial hub city of Aleppo to be an independent Islamist state months ago. One of the jihadist groups, Al-Nusra Front, has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. Members of Al-Nusra and other Syrian rebels groups have committed atrocities during the Syrian civil war, including publicly beheading a Catholic priest who was accused of collaborating with Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. Earlier this month, Syrian rebels linked to al Qaeda killed a senior figure in the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). Kamal Hamami, a member of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, known by his nom de guerre Abu Bassel al-Ladkani, was meeting with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the port city of Latakia when they killed him. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |