http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1110/christians_in_iraq_flee.php3
Yet more Iraqi Christians murdered
By Jane Arraf and Laith Hammoudi
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/images/koran-knife.jpg
File photo
Bombings in Baghdad late Tuesday and early Wednesday targeted Christians,
killing at least four just 10 days after more than 50 Christians were killed
by Al Qaeda-linked gunmen who stormed a church during Sunday mass
Click here <http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1110/christians_iraq.php3> for
in-depth backgrounder
JewishWorldReview.com |
bAGHDAD - (TCSM) A wave of bombings and mortar attacks struck Christian
areas across Baghdad Wednesday, sending families fleeing their homes a day
after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged the government would protect
them.
Interior Ministry officials said improvised bombs and a car bomb were
detonated near the homes of Christians in at least seven neighborhoods in
Baghdad late Tuesday and early Wednesday, killing at least four people and
wounding more than 16.
The bombings, which came 10 days after more than 50 Christians were killed
by Al Qaeda-linked gunmen who stormed a church during Sunday mass, have sown
panic in the close-knit community.
Some fled their homes to seek refuge at the very church which was attacked
on Oct 31.
"We were so afraid - we left without taking anything," says Umm Danny,
surrounded by her three children, a niece, and a nephew in the church hall
of Our Lady of Salvation in central Baghdad. She said they hear explosions
so often in their south Baghdad neighborhood of Dora they didn't think
anything of it until one detonated on their block near the home of a
particularly devout Christian family.
"We went barefoot onto the roof and climbed onto our Muslim neighbor's
house," she says. "They helped us and told us to stay with them but we were
afraid." Umm Danny, who did not want her full name used, said the neighbors
cried when they left.
"I think this is only a warning," says another Christian planning to leave
for the Kurdish capital of Erbil. "We are expecting anything at anytime. It
seems as if they can do anything without anyone stopping them."
Mr. Maliki on Tuesday met with senior church leaders, telling them in a
meeting aired on state-run television that his government would protect
Christians.
Almost half of the approximately 800,000 Christians in Iraq before the war
are believed to have fled - many given refugee status in the West.
The assault on the church by a team of gunmen who passed through checkpoints
with explosives along with more than 20 bombs in Shiite areas two days later
have shaken faith in the government's ability to protect the population.
IRAQIS BLAME GOVERNMENT FOR WEAK SECURITY
More than eight months after Iraqis voted in national elections, Maliki is
struggling to form a governing coalition. Iraq's parliament has been ordered
back to work on Thursday but it appears unlikely they will elect a speaker.
"I blame the government for all these attacks. It's a very weak government
and it can't protect us," says Moshi Zeya Moshi, shouting in pain as he
talked on the phone. He was wounded in the thigh when a bomb placed under
his neighbor's car exploded in their Senaa Street neighborhood on Wednesday
morning. Mr. Moshi, who works as a guard, said he had gone out after the
first explosion to check on his elderly neighbor when the bomb exploded.
The "Islamic State in Iraq," a group linked to Al Qaeda, declared
responsibility for the Oct. 31 attack and followed with a warning that it
would continue to kill Christians.
KURDISH LEADER: OUR DOORS ARE OPEN
The church attack followed by the bombings in neighborhoods has left many
terrified that the next step will be gunmen breaking into their homes. In
the northern city of Mosul, attacks on Christians became progressively more
targeted until victims were abducted or killed in their homes and shops. The
killings there sparked an exodus of more than 1,000 families north to
relative safety of the Kurdish territories.
Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih said he had spoken with the Chaldean
patriarch to tell him the Kurdish regional government would give the fleeing
families refuge.
CHURCH LEADERS UNCERTAIN HOW TO ADVISE FOLLOWERS
The attacks have left angry church officials in a quandary over what to tell
a community they have traditionally encouraged not to leave.
"Next door at Our Lady of Salvation, there appeared to be minimal security
outside the church where the doors were hanging on their hinges and there
were bullet holes in the walls. "Our bishops cannot do anything," said one
Christian man, who said he blamed the political vacuum for the violence.
Christian member of parliament Ynadim Kennah said the bombings pointed out
the short-comings of the government security institutions and the chaos of
the political vacuum.
"They are an evidence of the failure of the intelligence agencies," he
asked. "What can the forces do in the streets if they don't have
intelligence information?"
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