ICC Note: A Syrian priest held for nearly six months by ISIS was able to escape with help from someone he had served before. The church’s love for those in need was crucial to his survival, but for others their fate has not been so fortunate.

10/19/2015 Syria (Wazala) – Assyrian Christian leader tells how his humanitarian aid inspired a friend to plot his escape, on a motorbike, disguised as a jihadist fighter

FATHER Jacques Mourad has told how he escaped the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria with the help of a friend whose family had been helped by the priest’s programme of aid to the poor and disadvantaged.

Speaking out after nearly six months in the hands of the Islamist terror group, Fr Mourad said that with the help of the friend he had escaped IS-held Qaratayn on the back of a motorbike disguised as an Islamist fighter.

The friend – who had links with IS – had told Fr Mourad he was impressed by the priest’s humanitarian relief work in Qaratayn – food, shelter and medicine – funded by charities including Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

In an exclusive interview with ACN, Jacques Mourad said this work had “played a great role in setting me free”.

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