Priest 'beheaded' in Syria video actually 'shot dead'
A Catholic priest has been shot and killed in northern Syria, The Telegraph has found, contradicting claims that he is the victim in a beheading video.
A Catholic priest, Father
Francois Murad has been shot and killed in northern
Syria
The footage, said to show Father Francois Murad, 49, as the victim in a
brutal summary execution by foreign jihadists is likely to be an older video
that bares no relation to the death of the Catholic priest.
Father Murad "died when he was shot inside his church" in the northern
Syrian Christian village of
Ghassaniyeh on June 23, three separate local sources told the Telegraph, who did
not wish to be named.
Claims that Father Murad was one of two men to be decapitated by a foreign
jihadist group went viral, the outrage expressed in blogs and articles
worldwide.
The footage posted on YouTube shows three men kneeling on the ground
surrounded by a group of foreign jihadists, now thought to be a group of Chechen
rebels. The crowd whips itself into frenzy and screaming "God is great" some of
the rebels slaughter two of the prisoners.
The film is too grainy to be able to confirm the identity of either of the
victims as Father Francois. While the video's title refers to the killing of a
priest and a bishop, none of the participants in the actual video refer to any
such actions, and only accuse the victims of being collaborators and 'shabiha',
a reference to pro-government militia members.Father Pizzaballa, a colleague in the Franciscan Friars of the Custody of the
Holy Land, to which Father Francois belonged, told the Italian newspaper La
Repubblica that none of their priests were the victims in the video.
"None of our priests have died in this manner. All our priests are alive. Reading the reports circulating in the media I conclude that they have mixed up events," he said.
Peter Bouckaert, Emergencies Director for Human Rights Watch said: "Confusion may have arisen because of the appearance of this video around the same time that the news came out that Father Francois had been killed.
"Human Rights Watch has been conducting an in-depth investigation into this video, and it looks like it may have been filmed in a different location several months ago, long before Father Francois was reportedly killed."
Yasser, a Syrian activist who has been researching the killings in the video said that the incident took place "months" before the priest's death.
Several other Syrian sources, that asked not to be named, confirmed this account.
The Vatican news agency confirmed that Father Francois was killed on June 23 but said the "circumstances of the death are not fully understood".
Two days after Father Francois was killed in Ghassaniyeh, the Custody of the Holy Land issued a press release saying Islamist groups on the Sant Antonio church shot the father dead. The press release said he had been given a funeral and buried.
"Islamists attacked the monastery, ransacking it and destroying everything.
When Father Francois tried to resist, defending the nuns, rebels shot him," the release stated.
The resort town of Ghassaniyeh, in Syria's Latakia province, which was visited by the Telegraph, has fallen under the control of the extremist jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra.
Father Francois was thought to be one of the last remaining Christian inhabitants.
Two months ago four Italian journalists were kidnapped by Jabhat al-Nusra as they filmed inside Father Francois' church, which had recently been desecrated. Susan Dabbous, one of the kidnapped journalists, reported that Jabhat al-Nusra had referred to Father Francois as "a spy".
"None of our priests have died in this manner. All our priests are alive. Reading the reports circulating in the media I conclude that they have mixed up events," he said.
Peter Bouckaert, Emergencies Director for Human Rights Watch said: "Confusion may have arisen because of the appearance of this video around the same time that the news came out that Father Francois had been killed.
"Human Rights Watch has been conducting an in-depth investigation into this video, and it looks like it may have been filmed in a different location several months ago, long before Father Francois was reportedly killed."
Yasser, a Syrian activist who has been researching the killings in the video said that the incident took place "months" before the priest's death.
Several other Syrian sources, that asked not to be named, confirmed this account.
The Vatican news agency confirmed that Father Francois was killed on June 23 but said the "circumstances of the death are not fully understood".
Two days after Father Francois was killed in Ghassaniyeh, the Custody of the Holy Land issued a press release saying Islamist groups on the Sant Antonio church shot the father dead. The press release said he had been given a funeral and buried.
"Islamists attacked the monastery, ransacking it and destroying everything.
When Father Francois tried to resist, defending the nuns, rebels shot him," the release stated.
The resort town of Ghassaniyeh, in Syria's Latakia province, which was visited by the Telegraph, has fallen under the control of the extremist jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra.
Father Francois was thought to be one of the last remaining Christian inhabitants.
Two months ago four Italian journalists were kidnapped by Jabhat al-Nusra as they filmed inside Father Francois' church, which had recently been desecrated. Susan Dabbous, one of the kidnapped journalists, reported that Jabhat al-Nusra had referred to Father Francois as "a spy".
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