Orthodox priest beheaded In Iraq*

Relatives say captors demanded church apology for recent papal comments
about Islam

The Associated Press

Relatives of an Eastern Orthodox priest who was kidnapped and found
beheaded three days later said Thursday that his captors had demanded
his church condemn the pope's recent comments about Islam and pay a
US$350,000 (€280,000) ransom.

More than 500 people attended a memorial service Thursday for father
Amer Iskender in the northern city of Mosul after his decapitated body
was found Wednesday evening in an industrial area of the city.

Iskender was a priest at the St. Ephrem Orthodox church in Mosul.

"He was a good man and we all shed tears for him," said Eman Saaur, a
45-year-old schoolteacher who said she attended Iskender's church
regularly. "He was a man of peace."

Relatives, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said
the unidentified group that seized Iskender on Sunday had demanded a
ransom and that his church condemn a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI
last month that ignited a wave anger throughout the Muslim world. In a
speech at a German university the pope quoted a medieval text that
characterized some of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and
inhuman," declaring Islam was a religion spread by the sword.

Before Iskender was kidnapped, his relatives said, the church already
had put up signs condemning the statement and calling for good relations
between Christians and Muslims. The message was posted again, they said,
after the priest's kidnappers made their demand.

"It was a tragedy," said Hazim Shaaiya, 60, who had come to the memorial
service to pay respects. "Father Amer Iskender was a peaceful, kind
religious man."

Relatives said the priest's oldest son had been in contact with the
kidnappers on mobile telephones. He negotiated the ransom payment down
to US$40,000 (€32,000) and had agreed to pay, but contact abruptly
ceased Tuesday night.