Ransom Demanded For Archbishop Casmoussa (UPDATED)

A report in The Australian:

An Iraqi group that kidnapped the Catholic archbishop of Mosul has demanded a $US200,000 ($266,000) ransom for his release, a missionary agency quoted a leading Catholic cleric as saying today.

The kidnappers had allowed Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa to speak by telephone to an aide at his Mosul diocese, said Archbishop Paulos Rahho, the head of the Chaldean Catholic community in the northern Iraqi city.

The thug kidnappers have as yet not been identified.

[Update 0630 EST] According to a Channel NewsAsia report from Baghdad Archbishop Matti Matoka, Archbishop Casmoussa has been released and no ransom was paid. No mention was made regarding the kidnappers.