Politics

Political parties condemn killing of moderate Kurdish preacher: Erbil

On Tuesday evening, Kurdish preacher Dr. Wushyar Ismael was shot dead by an unknown militant, as Erbil police and security search for the murderer.

Sangar Ali 2016/11/23 12:22

kurdistan Preacher Kurdistan Erbil Wushyar Ismael

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – On Tuesday evening, Kurdish preacher Dr. Wushyar Ismael was shot dead by an unknown militant, as Erbil police and security search for the murderer.

Ismael was a moderate preacher in Omar Bindiyan Mosque located in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region. He died while being rushed to the emergency hospital.

“Police and security teams are searching to obtain information and arrest those who had a hand in killing Ismael,” said Hogir Aziz, the spokesperson for Erbil Police.

Aziz mentioned the moderate cleric was loved among the people in Erbil, and everyone was saddened by his murder.

“We as police are also concerned about losing a sincere personality of the city,” he continued. “We hope to obtain the information and reveal the factors that caused the death of the preacher.”

Diyar Goran, Ismael’s brother, told local Kurdish media it was 10:30 in the evening when somebody knocked on the preacher’s door.

According to Goran, after Ismael opened the door, he was shot with two bullets. One hit his chest and the other his head.

Following his death, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Gorran Movement (Change), Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), and Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) strictly condemned the incident and called on police and security forces to find and arrest the murderer.

Ismael was linked with the KIU and had a special program on the party’s satellite TV channel Speda.

In a phone call with the KIU leader, the President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani expressed his condolences to the family of the victim.

Moreover, the President labeled the incident as an attack on everyone not only the KIU.

President Barzani also called on police and security forces to find the murderer as soon as possible and send them to court.

The Kurdistan Region is known for its peaceful co-existence of different ethnic and religious groups who live in social harmony.

Additionally, the Region is currently home to 1.8 million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who fled from Syria and other parts of Iraq due to the threat of the Islamic State.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany