you know, its gonna come down to this eventually, but too bad this happened... i understand going after military and political figures, but this is horrible. do we actually think that this man was doig anything outside of trying to help?
MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- A Catholic archbishop was kidnapped Monday near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said.
Basil George Casmoussa, 66, was outside a private residence on a main road in al-Muhendisin, north of Mosul, when he was taken captive at 5:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET), said Kahsro Goran, deputy governor of Nineveh province.
Casmoussa lives in a neighborhood east of Mosul called Qaraqos, Goran said.
A Vatican spokesman told Reuters that the Holy See was aware of the abduction and demanded his immediate release.
Reuters reported that the Vatican called the kidnapping "an act of terrorism."
Iraqi officials told CNN the kidnappers used two cars.
Earlier Monday, insurgents killed at least 14 members of the Iraqi security forces in attacks on checkpoints in two cities.
Near Baquba, north of Baghdad, seven Iraqi army soldiers and one Iraqi civilian were killed at a checkpoint by insurgents traveling in multiple vehicles, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said.
The officials said four other Iraqi soldiers were wounded when they were hit with small-arms fire in the attack in Buhritz, about six miles (10 kilometers) south of Baquba.
At least seven Iraqi police also were killed Monday when a suicide car bomb exploded at the first of three checkpoints in front of an Iraqi police headquarters near the north-central city of Tikrit, a U.S. military spokesman and a local official said.
The official with the Tikrit governorate said 19 other people were hurt in the explosion at the Beiji police headquarters, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Tikrit.
Water pipeline sabotaged
Insurgents sabotaged a pipeline that supplies 70 percent of Baghdad's water supply, a U.S. military spokesman said Monday.
The spokesman said that the attackers apparently placed the explosives in a manhole Saturday and blew up a section of the pipeline, which is about 100 feet (30 meters) below ground.
Baghdad has reservoirs with enough water for five days, the spokesman added, but some Baghdad residents already have complained of water shortages.
On Monday, Iraq's Council of Ministries reported that in the past few days in Falluja, west of Baghdad, clashes between the Iraqi army and insurgents resulted in the deaths of 35 "terrorists." Sixty-four others were detained, the council said, and weapons and rockets were confiscated
MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- A Catholic archbishop was kidnapped Monday near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said.
Basil George Casmoussa, 66, was outside a private residence on a main road in al-Muhendisin, north of Mosul, when he was taken captive at 5:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET), said Kahsro Goran, deputy governor of Nineveh province.
Casmoussa lives in a neighborhood east of Mosul called Qaraqos, Goran said.
A Vatican spokesman told Reuters that the Holy See was aware of the abduction and demanded his immediate release.
Reuters reported that the Vatican called the kidnapping "an act of terrorism."
Iraqi officials told CNN the kidnappers used two cars.
Earlier Monday, insurgents killed at least 14 members of the Iraqi security forces in attacks on checkpoints in two cities.
Near Baquba, north of Baghdad, seven Iraqi army soldiers and one Iraqi civilian were killed at a checkpoint by insurgents traveling in multiple vehicles, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said.
The officials said four other Iraqi soldiers were wounded when they were hit with small-arms fire in the attack in Buhritz, about six miles (10 kilometers) south of Baquba.
At least seven Iraqi police also were killed Monday when a suicide car bomb exploded at the first of three checkpoints in front of an Iraqi police headquarters near the north-central city of Tikrit, a U.S. military spokesman and a local official said.
The official with the Tikrit governorate said 19 other people were hurt in the explosion at the Beiji police headquarters, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Tikrit.
Water pipeline sabotaged
Insurgents sabotaged a pipeline that supplies 70 percent of Baghdad's water supply, a U.S. military spokesman said Monday.
The spokesman said that the attackers apparently placed the explosives in a manhole Saturday and blew up a section of the pipeline, which is about 100 feet (30 meters) below ground.
Baghdad has reservoirs with enough water for five days, the spokesman added, but some Baghdad residents already have complained of water shortages.
On Monday, Iraq's Council of Ministries reported that in the past few days in Falluja, west of Baghdad, clashes between the Iraqi army and insurgents resulted in the deaths of 35 "terrorists." Sixty-four others were detained, the council said, and weapons and rockets were confiscated
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