Iraqi archbishop urges Christians not to flee the country

Kirkuk, Iraq - An Iraqi archbishop Tuesday urged the country's Christians not to give in to pressure by migrating, after a series of fatal attacks in the northern city of Mosul targeted them. Louis Sako, of Kirkuk's Chaldean church, said that there were "internal and external parties behind the attacks against Christians in Mosul, who want to empty Iraq."

"Some 20 Christian families have fled Mosul to Kirkuk as a result of the continuous attacks in the city, besides 3,000 university students who cannot go to their college for fear of being targeted," the archbishop told the German Press Agency dpa.

At least nine Christians have been murdered in Mosul since February 14, and at least 13 have been killed since January.

Sako said that the easiest thing Christians could do was leave Iraq and find themselves a place abroad, "in a way that ensures our lives, future and security.

"But we cannot live isolated from the rest of Iraqis, because we are from Iraq and we want to build our country along with the Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Muslims," he added.

The Archbishop described the attacks that took place in Mosul as "ugly and organized."

He also said that the attacks, which took place in the build up to the parliamentary elections due on March 7, were an attack on "the national partnership and an insult to religious values."

Sako called on the Iraqi government and the major parties in Mosul to ensure the protection of its citizens, especially Christians who were frequently targeted.

"Everyone should work on investigations as emptying Iraq of Christians will lead the country to more division and extremism," he added.

Christian politicians from Mosul see in the recent violence a repeat of the attacks that preceded the January 2009 provincial polls, when some 450 Christian families fled the city after at least 35 members of the minority community were killed.

Mosul and its environs are among the most ethnically and religiously diverse - and dangerous - regions of Iraq. Iraqi and US officials describe the city as al-Qaeda's last urban stronghold in the country.

Tensions have been high in the province since an Arab nationalist party won last year's provincial polls on a platform of taking back control of the government and security services from Kurdish parties and allied militias.

Politicians and community leaders last month accused the provincial government, Baghdad, Kurdish parties and allied peshmerga militias that share responsibility for policing the area, of not doing enough to protect the region's Christians from what they called "political" crimes.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312041,iraqi-archbishop-urges-christians-not-to-flee-the-country.html.