A pastor in Kirkuk, Iraq, told
Compass that sources close to a Christian reportedly kidnapped, tortured
and murdered by al-Qaida over the weekend said the kidnappers had
pressured his employer to fire him because he was a Christian.
The
body of Chaldean Christian Ashur Issa Yaqub was found on May
16 with marks of severe torture and mutilation. He had worked as a
construction worker from the northeastern city of Kirkuk, and al-Qaida
members demanded $100,000 for his release, according to Agence
France-Presse.
“It seems that the contractor that
Ashur was working for was told he had to fire Ashur because he was
Christian, but he refused,” said the pastor, who spoke on condition of
anonymity. “Because the contractor was rich and they couldn’t do
anything to him, they kidnapped Ashur, and unfortunately they killed
him.”
When a police patrol found his body on May 16, his head was nearly severed off, according to the Agence
France-Presse.
The 29-year-old Yaqub, whose surname is also spelled Jacob, is survived by his wife and three children.
Chaldean
Catholic Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako told Compass by phone from
Rome that he was shocked to get the news of Yaqub’s death. While noting
that the murder was unusually brutal, the archbishop said it was
probably the work of criminal opportunists trying to make money, and
that Yaqub was not necessarily targeted as a Christian.
“It
was horrible,” Sako said. “When I heard it, I was ripped. He was
kidnapped for money. That happens, but kidnappers don’t usually torture
and kill this way. This wasn’t human … this is like they were beasts.
They killed him immediately to scare the people of Kirkuk and send the
message that if they are kidnapped they have to pay.”
Yaqub’s
body bore marks of dog bites and torture; his legs and arms were tied
together and his clothes were covered in blood, according to the Agence
France-Presse.
His eyes were gouged out, his ears were cut off and his face was
skinned, according to the Assyrian International News Agency.
“This
was exceptional, but there are other cases where they killed them or
left them half dead, like Sameer the doctor,” Sako said, referring to
the case of a Christian, 55-year-old Sameer Gorgees Youssif, who was
kidnapped and released in 2009. “They paid, but they had tortured and
hit him.”
In Kirkuk another Christian, Iyad Daoud,
was kidnapped on Feb. 14 but was freed after ransom was paid for him,
according to Iraqi online publication Assafir Press.
Noting
that Christians are not the only victims of kidnapping, Sako said
Muslims and other nationals living in Kirkuk have been abducted.
Although he said he didn’t believe the attack targeted Yaqub because he
was a Christian, he said Christians were very shaken by the attack, and
he feared that many would leave the city as a result.
“I
don’t think this was against Christians,” said Sako. “This one was very
poor. We can’t imagine; this was someone with three kids, a wife, and
poor, really poor. They killed him for nothing … they have no sense of
humanity and religion.”
Over the last few years, Christian
and Muslim leaders in Kirkuk have joined forces to condemn the violent
acts of insurgents against their communities through joint statements,
among other efforts to promote peace and conviviality. Things “were
calm” in the last year, according to Sako, making this brutal attack
perplexing.
“After this, everyone, not just Christians,
was shocked,” he said. “In Kirkuk, very few Christian families had left
the city, but this is shocking. I think that after this they will
evacuate, because this is very serious. What is this? Torturing and
killing someone; there are no words to explain this.”
General
Secretary of the Chaldo-Assyrian Student and Youth Union Kaldo Oghanna
described the mood among the Christian community in Iraq as miserable.
He said by phone that he was at a loss for words to describe what had
happened.
Oghanna said he thought only al-Qaida could be capable of such an act.
“It’s a very bad situation, and everyone, the youth, they are feeling hopeless,” he said. “This kind of attack is – beastly.”
He
said that the murder of Yaqub took away the glimmer of hope that Iraq’s
youth had for the future and further eroded their faith in the
government.
“We describe this brutal murder of Ashur as a
heinous act – a heinous crime against religion, the nation and
humanity,” Oghanna said. “Today we can’t trust our governments on the
issue of establishing security.”
Oghanna said that he is
planning a conference to examine the challenges that youth face in Iraq
and the causes and consequences of their migration from the country.
“Today
the situation in Iraq is complex,” said Oghanna. “Up to now the subject
of the government’s performance has not been decided. There are the
demands of citizens, and terrorist operations of al Qaeda. We fear that
the coming days will be hard for us as Christians.”
Christians in Iraq asked for prayer that extremist thinking and acts be eliminated in Iraq, he said.
