Bombers slaughter Iraqi Christians

An unknown terror group has attacked churches in Iraq, reports Freddy Gray, but local Shias and Sunnis stand in solidarity with the victims THE CHRISTIAN and Muslim populations of Iraq have united in defiance of terrorists who last weekend launched their first concerted and large-scale attack on Christians in an attempt to incite civil enmity.
Initial reports suggested that 11 people were killed and 60 others injured by bombs aimed at four churches in Baghdad and two in Mosul, 350 km north of the capital. However, on Tuesday an Iraqi bishop claimed that eight churches were targeted, and the number of dead was as high as 50.
The first blast went off at 6pm, near an Armenian Christian Church in Karada, central Baghdad. Minutes later, another bomb was detonated just 500 metres away, outside an Assyrian Catholic church. Two more explosions followed, in the south and east of the capital.
“What are the Muslims doing?” asked Deacon Louis as he stood outside his church. “The people who commit these awful criminal acts have nothing to do with God. They will go to hell.” Samir Behnham, a Catholic, was praying in his church as the bombs went off. “Whoever did this has no religion or principles,” he said. “No religion accepts acts of sabotage and murder. They want to create civil strife between the Muslims and the Christians.” Spokesmen for the United States’ military and Iraqi government officials agreed that the purpose of the bombings was to heighten tensions between religious groups in Iraq and fan the flames of a civil war.
But Iraqi Muslims and Christians appeared to have turned against the terrorists rather than each other. “No Iraqi would do this,” said one Chaldean Catholic priest who did not wish to be named. “They are still our brothers.” George Abouna, a lay Catholic who suffered minor injuries from the attacks, said: “We knew it was a matter of time before they got to us. They are trying to divide Iraq but they will never succeed. When will they learn that only peace and love can restore our country? I pray for their forgiveness.” Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, leader of the majority Shia Muslim population of Iraq, described the bombings as “terrible crimes” and encouraged the government and the people of Iraq to bring about an end to such violence.
“We need to respect the rights of Christians in Iraq and those of other faiths, and their right to live in their home, Iraq, peacefully,” the Ayatollah’s office said in a statement.
Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose group has been accused of sporadic attacks against Christians, also denounced the terrorists. “This is a cowardly act, and targets all Iraqis,” he said in a statement.
Even Sunni hardliners, representing the second biggest Muslim group in Iraq, blamed foreigners for the attacks. “They tried to create divisions between Sunni and Shia but failed, between the Arabs and Kurds but failed, now they are trying between Muslims and Christians,” said Sheikh Muhammad Bashar al-Faidi, a Sunni council spokesman.
He added that last year Muslim fanatics had distributed thousands of leaflets accusing Christians of trying to convert Iraqi Muslims.
In Europe, the Catholic Church was quick to respond to the assaults. “It is terrible and worrying because it is the first time that Christian churches are being targeted in Iraq,” said Fr Ciro Benedettini, a Vatican spokesman, soon after news of the bombings reached Rome. “It is of even greater concern because the Catholic Church has always been in the front line in the commitment for peace and solidarity.” The day after the attacks, Pope John Paul II sent a telegram to the Iraqi bishops. “At this time of trial, I am spiritually close to the Church and the Iraqi people,” he said.
He called on both Muslims and Christians to be united against all forms of violence.
The blasts in Baghdad shattered the stained glass windows of the churches. Hot pieces of metal and wood went flying through the air, injuring people inside and outside the church buildings. Congregations ran screaming out of their places of worship, many wounded. Fire engines, ambulances, security forces and United States helicopters soon arrived as black smoke billowed out from the fuel tanks of an electrical generators which had blown up in the explosions.
The bloodiest attack was on the Chaldean Catholic monastery in Al-Doura, southern Baghdad, where at least eight Christians were killed. Another bomb went off in Na’aeriya, New Baghdad, an eastern suburb of the capital. An hour later, in Mosul, terrorists launched rockets at the Mar Polis Catholic Church. Nearby, a white vehicle full of explosives blew up, killing one person and injuring seven others.
The attacks were immediately blamed on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the notorious alQaeda militant. But The Committee of Planning and Follow-up in Iraq, a previously unknown group, claimed responsibility for the bombings on Monday and issued a warning that more violence was to come.
“The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are hateful Crusader wars against Muslims by America and its minions,” the group said in a statement.
In spite of the efforts to avoid conflict made by the Catholic Church in the run up to the invasion of Iraq — which included sending envoys to plead with both American President George Bush and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein the terrorists added that the war had the “blessing of the Pope who has the leaders of America between his hands like slaves”.
Last Sunday’s bombings may be the first large-scale assault on the Christian minority in Iraq. However, they were not entirely unexpected. In recent months there have been attacks on a number of Iraqi Christian shop owners who sell alcohol. Several hundred Chris tian families have fled into neighbouring Jordan or Syria to wait for the violence to subside, while those who remain in Iraq fear for their lives.
“As a Christian I now feel like a target,” said Ayad Zaya, a factory owner, on Monday. “As I leave my house, I say prayers in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.” Bishop Andraos Abouna, auxiliary to the Patriarch of Baghdad, was in London when the bombs went off. “Until now, the churches were the only place where Christians felt safe,” he told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Catholic charity which has provided relief to suffering Christians in Iraq. The Church in Iraq is now in desperate need of funds to help rebuild the church buildings and replace two generators that were destroyed in the attacks. Both generators had been installed six months ago by ACN at a combined cost of £22,000, and provided hot water and electricity to Christians in Baghdad.
There are thought to be some 650,000 Christians still in Iraq, making up about three per cent of the population. The largest Christian groups are the Chaldean Eastern-rite Catholics and the Assyrian Christians. There are also small numbers of Christian Armenians, Catholic Syrians, Syrian Orthodox and Anglicans. Catholic Bishop Rabban al Qas of Amidiyah, northern Iraq, recently praised the American and British invasion of Iraq. He said that the West had liberated the Iraqi people and laid a foundation for a new democracy. He accused Western media of obscuring news about the progress that has taken place since the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
He reserved his strongest criticism, however, for terrorists in Iraq. “Opposition should mean defending the rights of your people, not killing them,” he said. “If you strike and kill your fellow countrymen and women, you are not a resistance fighter, you are a destroyer, a bearer of death.”