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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (5598)	8/2/2004 10:18:33 AM
From: Pogeu Mahone	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 22250

just what the world needs more muslim rectums! Bombs Sow Fear of More Horror for Iraq's Christians Mon Aug 2, 2004 09:29 AM ET By Matthew Green BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombings at Iraqi churches did more than kill worshippers, smash tombstones and shatter stained glass -- they destroyed any hope among the Christian community of staying off the hit list for attacks. "Now, as a Christian I feel like a target," said 40-year-old factory owner, Ayad Zaya, speaking a day after car bombs at five churches killed at least 11 people. "This is the first time that this has happened in the history of Iraq," he said, standing near a bomb site at the Assyrian church in Baghdad. "When I leave my house I say my prayers in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit." Already scared of what could happen to them in the uncertainty gripping postwar Iraq, one of the Middle East's oldest Christian communities is reeling from the shock of the first attacks on churches during 15 months of insurgency. Christians, who make up only about three percent of Iraq's population of 25 million people, have traditionally kept a relatively low political profile, mindful of the precariousness of their position in an overwhelmingly Muslim society. A spate of recent attacks on alcohol sellers fueled fears that Christians might be singled out for attacks, but unlike the mosques targeted by extremists for bombings in the past year, their places of worship had seemed sacrosanct. Faceless enemies changed that Sunday, when four car bomb attacks in Baghdad and one in the northern city of Mosul killed and maimed worshippers at evening prayers. Now many fear there may be more to come. "Christians are frightened," said Imad, 30, a taxi driver, standing near the blackened walls of the Armenian Church in the capital, where the smell of burned rubber wafted from cars scorched in one of the blasts. "Ignorant people might think we're infidels because we're Christians like the Americans," he said. "RED INDIANS" OF IRAQ While many Christians hated Saddam for his oppression, they were generally free to worship in their churches while majority Shi'ite Muslims faced years of persecution. Conscious of their status on the political margins, Christians are nevertheless proud that their faith came to Iraq in the first century while Islam only entered the area in the 7th century. Since then, their relative numbers have plunged. Many Christians fled abroad after last year's U.S.-led invasion to escape crime flourishing in the chaos, further whittling down their numbers. "We're the Red Indians of Iraq," said Shmael Benjamin, a member of the political bureau of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, a Christian political party. "We were the majority, today we're the minority, our percentage is reducing day by day in this country." Raising the specter of religious strife, Iraqi officials say they fear the attacks on the churches aimed to foment tensions between Iraq's communities -- although there was no sign of friction at the scene of the bombing at the Assyrian church. "There's no problems between us, we live together like brothers," said Adnan Mohammed, a 53-year-old Muslim, visiting his brother's house which was damaged in the blast. But for Christians who count many Muslims among their friends, the shock of the bomb attacks proved that as far as Iraq's future is concerned, there are few certainties. Adil al-Sabbagh, 64, gazed at the crater in front of the Assyrian church where he was married in 1970, remembering how Muslim friends mingled with the other guests, not dreaming that the church would one day be hit by bombers. "Once they've attacked a church, and a mosque, there's nothing sacred for them," he said, as a man swept away broken glass. "The people who did this are capable of anything."