UK Police Investigate If Assyrian Charity Paid Ransom to ISIS

[TomSea]

UK Police Investigate If Assyrian Charity Paid Ransom to ISIS
By Jamie Prentis   https://www.thenational.ae    Posted 2019-07-14 18:30 GMT

The Assyrian Church of the East Relief Organisation (Acero) is chaired by the bishop of Syria, Mar Afram Athneil, but is run by Andy Darmoo, 71, who is the director of a lighting company in southern England.

In its financial statements for the year ended July 31, 2016, Acero has an expenditure of £147,689 (Dh682,000) marked as "Iraq Hostages". An Associated Press report in 2016 described Mr Athneil as being "almost exclusively" behind the year-long brokering of the deal to free the hostages. Three were murdered on camera by ISIS.

The exact ransom amount is unknown but is estimated to be in the millions.

Read more at: http://aina.org/news/20190714143045.htm