OIC Secretary General Calls for Immediate Release of the Bishops Kidnapped in Syria

The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, strongly deplored the continued detention of bishops Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi who were kidnapped at gunpoint in northern Syria. The OIC Secretary General called for their immediate release without any conditions on the account that such an act is contrary to the noble principles of Islam and the prestige it confers on Christian clergy who have been living with honor and dignity throughout the land of Islam. Allah says what can be translated as: "Allah does not forbid you (as regards) the ones who have not fought you on account of the religion and have not driven you out of your residences that you should be benign to them and be equitable towards them; surely Allah loves the equitable." (Surat Al-Mumtahanah (The Woman Tested), 8)