A Christian writer has vowed to convert to Islam if Al-Qaeda's main branch in Syria will release the Reverend Paolo Dall'Oglio, the Jesuit priest who was kidnapped in Raqqa, northeast Syria last June.
Mikhael Saad, a veteran Syrian dissident who lives in Montreal, Canada, announced the offer on his personal Facebook page.
Activists reported that Dall’Oglio was abducted in the eastern city of Raqqa by members of the ISIS on 29 July.
“Kidnapping Jesuit priests will not help you in your Islamic projects," Saad said in a message addressed to the commander of ISIS in Raqqa, "as your state's main goal is to implement rights and justice," he added.
"I offer you to release Paolo and I will announce my conversion to Islam,” he said.
The prominent Italian Jesuit was an outspoken Christian supporter of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad. He was expelled in 2012 by the Assad government for his support for the rebels.
Dall’Oglio, 58, lived for three decades in Syria, where he established an ecumenical community at Mar Mousa on the site of an early Christian monastery, engaging in interfaith dialogue with Muslims and forging close ties with the local population.
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