The monk who saved ancient manuscripts from IS jihadists

By: Ben BARNIER | Julie DUNGELHOFF | Alexandra RENARD | Phoebe LANZER WOOD 1 min

Najeeb Michael is a Dominican monk who used to live in the Iraqi city of Mosul. His days at the monastery were spent digitising rare historical manuscripts. Less than a year ago, as the Islamic State group was about to take over Mosul, Najeeb knew that these artefacts would be destroyed if they fell into the jihadists’ hands. He tells us how he managed to smuggle thousands of the precious documents out of the city before fleeing himself. Some of them are now on display in Paris.