ABBOTTABAD: Abbottabad deputy commissioner Khalid Iqbal distributed honorarium cheques among Christian religious leaders during a ceremony held in the Catholic Church here the other day.

The cheques were given away on the instructions of provincial endowment department.

Mr Iqbal distributed cheques worth Rs30,000 each among 15 priests of different churches.

Mr Iqbal said mosques, churches, monasteries and temples all had the same purpose to preach peace and harmony. He said the provincial government had fixed the honorarium for scholars, elders and pastors of churches.

The speakers said the religious leaders should be paid stipends through the Auqaf department.

Christian religious figures expressed solidarity with the Palestinian Muslims and condemned the Israeli aggression in Gaza.