Al Nusra Front Seize Franciscan Priest in Syria

(AFP) A Franciscan priest and several other Christians have been seized by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front in a village in northwestern Syria, the Franciscan mission to the Holy Land said Tuesday.

Qunyeh is a village of several hundred people in Idlib province, and lies some eight kilometres (five miles) from the Turkish border.

The Custody of the Holy Land is made up of 285 members of the Franciscan Order from 39 countries.

Al-Nusra Front, which fights alongside rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, is the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.