The Arabic language Assyrian (also known as Chaldnen and Syriac) website ankawa.com is reporting that 1 priest and 3 deacons were gunned down in Mosul as they left the Church after having finished Sunday Mass. Fr. Ragheed Ganni, Deacon Basman Joseph, Deacon Bassam and Deacon Ghassan of the Holy Spirit Church was killed by a hale of bullets from a group of gunmen. Their bodies were dumped in front of the church and remain their; residents are afraid to remove their bodies for fear of being shot. According to the AFP, the four had finished mass at 7.30 PM and were driving away in the priest's car when they were intercepted, about 100 meters from the church, by a car; four men got out and shot them.
Fr. Ganni was born in Mosul in 1972; he held a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Mosul (1993). He studied in Rome from 1996 to 2003 where he Obtained a Masters in Divinity (Moscone Theology).
-Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Fr. Ragheed Ganni and three deacons, Deacon Basman Joseph, Deacon Bassam and Deacon Ghassan, one day after they were gunned down in their car as they left the Holy Spirit Church after finishing evening mass, Mosul (AINA 6-3-2007). The attack on the Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) of Iraq is spiraling out of control and has some observers warning of an impending genocide.
