The Assyrian International News agency is expressing concern about the future of the Iraqi Christian community in Baghdad.
One year ago, in the worst violence against Assyrians since the liberation of Iraq, Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked Iraqui Christians at Our Lady of Deliverance Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad during a Sunday evening church service, killing 58 parishioners, including two priests.
Commemorating the massacre, the news agency warned that “for Assyrians in Iraq, the scheduled departure of U.S. forces at the end of December 2011 is of great concern.”
“Without the U.S. presence as a deterrent, Assyrians face the danger of unchecked Islamic persecution.”
“The Shiite Maliki government is under the influence of Iran and the Shiites have not been friendly to Assyrians in Iraq, as they have engaged in the persecution and killing of Assyrians since 2004,” the agency continued.
It warns that “for the United States and Europe, the lesson of the Black Sunday massacre should be clear: the Islamists are transnational, for them there are no nations, only the umma (the Islamic nation) ruled by Sharia. In Sharia there is no separation between mosque and state – the mosque is the state. Western governments must craft their foreign policy with this in mind, and develop policies to pressure Islamic governments to ensure that Christians and other non-Muslims are protected from the discriminatory laws and practices prescribed by Sharia.”
Sources