The Assyrian Democratic Organization
The United States government condemned the violence against Christians and urged the Iraqi government to increase efforts to protect Christians and their churches from terrorist attacks. The U.S. State Department issued its condemnation after Iraqi government officials in Baghdad released a statement that said 15 bombs were placed around homes in Christian areas of Baghdad. Eleven of the 15 bombs exploded, according to US intelligence sources.
Syriac Christians have lived in the Muslim-dominated region for centuries and are but a small minority in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Turkey. During the Christmas season, a protest march was organized in the wake of several violent attacks against the Christian community in Iraq, a segment of the population that fell from about 1.5 million to only 400,000 over the past decade.
As previously reported in NewswithViews.com, at least 52 Iraqi Christians were killed and over 60 injured in a terrorist inspired bloodbath at Baghdad’s Our Lady of Deliverance Catholic Church. U.S. special forces troops, together with Iraqi security forces, launched a rescue operation to free as many of the Christians being held hostage by their terrorist captors as possible.
The Al Qaeda-linked "Islamic State of Iraq" claimed responsibility and threatened to "exterminate Iraqi Christians." This shadowy jihad terror network justified the savagery on religious grounds, claiming that the church was an "obscene nest of the polytheists [infidels]" and a "base for their struggle against the religion of Islam."
“We call on the Government of Iraq to redouble its efforts to protect Christians and apprehend the terrorists who are behind these acts,” said Mark C. Toner, Acting State Department Spokesman, adding, “We condemn the violence against Christians carried out overnight by terrorists in Iraq.”
According to US police advisors working with Iraqi cops, a husband and wife were killed when they opened a bag they found at the entrance to their home and it exploded.
“Virtually every political bloc and major religious leader in Iraq have denounced attacks on Christians and stressed the centrality of Christians in the fabric of Iraqi society,” Toner said in a statement.
“We commend the Government of Iraq for increasing its security measures to protect Christian communities since the October 31 suicide bombing attack at Our Lady of Salvation Church,” urged Toner in his statement.
Earlier, Jerzy Buzek, the current president of the European Union Parliament, called on the Iraqi government to make sure Christians in Iraq enjoy the same protection and status as Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
"The European Parliament is very concerned about these developments and is a strong defender of human rights, including freedom of religion" President Buzek said in an EU statement.
"We [will] monitor the situation closely and adopted a number of resolutions to try to draw international attention to the plight of Christian minorities," Buzek added.
There were attacks on Christians during the Christmas season in other predominately Muslim nations including Afghanistan and Egypt. An Egyptian government investigation is currently underway into the New Year’s Eve bombing that killed 21 Christian worshipers and injured 70 exiting a church in Alexandria.
By Jim Kouri
Law Enforcement Examiner
Source: Examiner.com
