Ekklesia reports that an al-Qaeda leader in Iraq has been sentenced to death for the killing of the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho – despite the church’s opposition to the death penalty.
The Iraqi government said the criminal court had imposed the death sentence on Ahmed Ali Ahmed, known as Abu Omar.
The archbishop of Mosul, who was 65, was kidnapped in February by gunmen who attacked his car, killing his driver and two bodyguards. His body was found in a shallow grave two weeks later.
The US Embassy in Baghdad welcomed the sentence, saying in a statement: “Reiterating our condolences to the archbishop’s family and community, we commend the Iraqi authorities for bringing the perpetrator of this brutal crime to justice.”
But the Archbishop of Kirkuk, Louis Sako said the death penalty against the convicted killer would not help improve the situation in Iraq.
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