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Catholic priest beheaded in Syria monastery attack Vatican confirms Catholic priest was killed in Syria
(about 2 hours later)
A Syrian Catholic priest has been beheaded by rebels at a monastery in the northern Syria, the Vatican says. A Syrian Roman Catholic priest was killed in northern Syria last month, the Vatican has confirmed.
Father Francois Murad, 49, was beheaded on 23 June when militants attacked the convent where he was staying. A statement said the circumstances of Father Francois Murad's death were "not fully understood", but that it happened on 23 June in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land in Ghassaniya.
The Vatican news agency said the circumstances of the killing were not fully clear. The Franciscan took refuge there after the monastery of St Simon was bombed.
But local sources said the attackers were linked to the jihadist group known as al-Nusra Front. Some initial reports said Fr Murad was beheaded by jihadist militants, but activists now say that he was shot.
Unconfirmed video footage claiming to show the priest's death, together with that of two other unidentified people, has been posted on Catholic websites. The beheading claims were based on a video posted online at around the same time that appears to show two prisoners being executed by rebels.
Father Murad had moved to the convent in the area of Gassanieh for safety reasons, the Vatican said. The video's title referred to the killing of a priest and a bishop, but none of the victims can be identified and none of those featured in the video refer to such an event.
He was a member of the Franciscan order, the official custodian of Christian sites in the Middle East. After analysing the footage, local activists and Human Rights Watch said it was most likely filmed in a different location several months before Fr Murad was killed.
Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of Franciscans in the region, said Syria had now become a battleground not only between Syrian forces but also between Arab countries and the international community. Instead, he "died when he was shot inside his church" in Ghassaniya, three separate local sources told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"Let us pray so that this absurd and shameful war ends soon and that the people of Syria can go back to living a normal life," he said. The Custody of the Holy Land, a Franciscan order which is the official custodian of religious sites in the Middle East, had also issued a statement two days after Fr Murad's death saying Islamist had shot him.
Correspondents say many of Syria's ethnic and religious minorities are being drawn into the conflict as the fighting intensifies and becomes more sectarian in nature. "Islamists attacked the monastery, ransacking it and destroying everything," it said. "When Father Francois tried to resist, defending the nuns, rebels shot him."
Gunmen in northern Syria abducted two Orthodox Christian bishops in April as they travelled from the Turkish border back to the city of Aleppo.