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Baskets brim with glitter-dusted ornaments. A 4-foot Santa Claus doll towers over the cash register. Rows of decorated trees and red plastic poinsettias line the shop. The only thing missing? Customers. “All the Christians have left the country,” said store manager Saif Sadi, adding that sales this season were down …

WASHINGTON (AFP) President George W. Bush admitted that Iraqi forces were not ready to replace US-led troops and warned that Iraqi elections set for January 30 would not spell the end of deadly violence there.The president, who faced reporters in an hour-long press conference before the winter holidays, also stood …

Baghdad – AINA In the midst of the turmoil and violence, the church of Jesus Christ in Iraq is vibrant and alive, a Southern Baptist worker said in a recent report published Friday. While attacks by insurgents in the war-torn nation has escalated as its first national elections approaches, Southern …

The Lebanese army said in a statement the security positions vacated were in Beirut’s international airport, the capital’s mainly Shi’ite southern suburb and one in northern. Syria, which is under international pressure for its military and security presence in, has around 14,000 troops in its tiny neighbor. The redeployment is …

EU leaders said the aim of the talks – which could take up to 15 years – would be full membership, but Turkey’s entry could not be guaranteed. Discussion between EU leaders on finalising the offer resumes at the two-day summit on Friday morning. EU leaders warned Turkey that it …

“There is a good prospect of a solution on Friday but no guarantee to the outcome in the end and also a temporary stop if negotiations are going in the wrong way,” Zalm said in an interview ahead of a summit meeting of EU leaders here Thursday and Friday. With …

The Iraqi national elections scheduled for January 30, 2005 are going to elect the 275 representatives of the Iraqi National Assembly (parliament).  The people in north of Iraq’s Kurdish enclave will additionally elect the 111 members of the Kurdish Regional Parliament in north of Iraq. On Wednesday, December 1, 2004, …

I am referring to the Assyrians, also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs. They are the only people native to Iraq, and they are Christian. We all know the Assyrians from our ancient history classes, or from the Bible; they are the builders of the great Mesopotamian civilizations when that area, …

He said, “The ChaldoAssyrian Christian community is highly vulnerable and under siege. I posit that there is no danger of the Kurds or Arabs vanishing from Iraq, or of their communities being reduced to a tiny remnant, but there is – this is not alarmist – a real and genuine …

Two more churches were bombed in Mosul last week, the latest attacks, and some Christians say extremist Muslims are terrorizing them with the intent of ousting them and seizing their houses and belongings. Iraq is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, made up largely of …