Iraqi archbishop ‘categorically denies’ lawsuit claims

The lawsuit filed in Virginia alleges Archbishop Bashar Warda's connection to a local militia in a complex case involving bribery and kidnapping

An Iraqi Catholic leader has strongly denied an allegation of complicity in the 2014 kidnapping of a businesswoman, after a lawsuit filed this month in a U.S. court.

Archbishop Bashar Warda, the Archbishop of Erbil, Iraq. HazteOir.org via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0).

The complaint, filed Feb. 13 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of…