2000-year-old monastery found in Iraq’s Najaf
By Saadoun al-Jaberi
Azzaman, November 10, 2010
An ancient monastery dating to the 1st century A.D. has been discovered in the religious city of Najaf, an Antiquities Department official says.
Nazar al-Nafakh, Najaf’s leading archaeologist, said the monastery was revealed as bulldozers were leveling ground for Najaf’s new airport.
“It is about 2000 years old,” he said.
So far Nafakh has no clue of the name of the monastery, but Christianity was practiced widely in the area of Najaf south of Baghdad at the time.
The province of Najaf, of which the religious city of Najaf is the capital, has several monasteries but most of them are merely heaps of debris.
A team of Iraqi excavators under archaeologist Shakir Abdulzahra, is working on the site.
“We have brought to surface the monastery’s foundations and have evidence that there were at least 54 rooms in it,” Abdulzahra said.
Ancient monasteries are common historical landmarks in Iraq.
Iraq was predominantly Christian until late 13th century.
Monasteries and Churches were present almost everywhere in the country, particularly in central and southern Iraq.
Today there are a handful of ancient monasteries most of them still inhabited by monks and situated in the restive province of Nineveh of which the city of Mosul is the capital.
At least three of them – Mar (saint) Hormuz, Mar Matti and Mar Behnam – have architectural evidence that dates them back to the 4th century A.D.
The monastery in Najaf will the most ancient ever discovered in Iraq.
Its discovery comes at a time Iraq is losing its Christian minority.
There are few Christians in southern and central Iraq as most of them have either fled the country or escaped to safer areas.
CIA Phoenix* operation in Baghdad
The attack on the Church in Karradah on Sunday 31.10.10 was clearly the work of Al-Qaeda as it was suicidal. But the carefully orchestrated 20-car bomb explosions on Tuesday night 02.01.10 was the work of CIA dirty-work squads which Bush had formed but Obama didn’t dissolve. While Al-Qaeda claimed credit for the attack on the Church, no-one claims credit for CIA-sponsored attacks. It is not the first time that such attacks are carried out by the dirty-work squads which work closely with Iraqi CIA formed by Dr Ayad Allawi.
In fact the Saudis and the Americans insist that Dr Allawai must remain holding the security portfolio. Besides being an agent to MI-6 and CIA, Dr Allawi’s associates are the most corrupt in Iraq with huge investments in the US, UK, Jordan and the Arab Gulf Emirates. The Iraqis are fed up with those who entered Baghdad behind US tanks. And as long as no Iraqi nationalist is allowed to participate in the government, all US-formed governments will fail to stop the violence. The in general Iraqis blame the US occupation for what is happening.
* During the 60's and 70's the CIA carried out bombings and killings on a large scale in Vietnam in operation Phoenix. One source estimated the death toll of close to 1800 Vietnamese a-week.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
IRAQI ARMY COMMANDER SAYS POLICE OPERATION TO STORM BAGHDAD CHURCH HELD BY GUNMEN SUCCEEDS; ALL HOSTAGES RELEASED
US forces say up to 24 dead in Iraq church attack
31 Oct 2010 20:59:10 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. military in Iraq said on Sunday that up to 24 people were killed in a church hostage taking incident in Baghdad, including up to 10 hostages.
It said in a statement that seven Iraqi security forces were killed, and between five and seven insurgents. At least 120 people were inside the church at the time of the attack, and up to 30 were wounded, it said. (Reporting by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Serena Chaudhry)
=================
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi security forces stormed a Catholic church Sunday where gunmen suspected of having ties to al Qaeda were holding worshippers hostage, ending an hours-long standoff, police officials said Sunday.
Thirty-seven people were killed in the operation, including hostages, kidnappers and security workers, they said. At least seven of the victims were hostages, police officials said, while another 57 were wounded.
Eight suspects were arrested.
"All the marks point out that this incident carries the fingerprints of al Qaeda," Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader Obeidi said on state television Sunday.
He said that most of the hostages were killed or wounded when the kidnappers set off explosives inside the church.
An American military spokesman said that as many as 10 hostages died and that between 20 and 30 people were injured in the operation. Seven Iraqi security workers and between five and seven "enemy" were also killed, said Lt. Col. Eric Bloom.
Survivors of the ordeal said they were about to begin Sunday night services when the gunmen entered the church, according to Martin Chulov, a journalist for the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper who was on the scene. About 50 people were inside the church at the time, and a priest ushered them into a back room, Chulov reported survivors said.
The U.S. military spokesman said that as many as 120 people were taken hostage.
At one point, one of the gunmen entered the room and threw an unidentified explosive device inside, causing casualties, Chulov said.
The gunmen seized the hostages after attacking the Baghdad Stock Market in the central part of the Iraqi capital, earlier Sunday, police said. Four armed men entered the nearby Sayidat al-Nejat church after clashing with Iraqi security forces trying to repel the stock market attack.
The gunmen were demanding that the Iraqi government release a number of detainees and prisoners inside Iraqi prisons, saying the Christian hostages would be freed in return, according to the police officials. Iraq's defense minister later said on state television that the kidnappers had demanded the release of a number of prisoners in both Iraq and Egypt.
Iraqi security forces sealed off the area surrounding the church, the officials said, and buildings were evacuated of civilians as a precautionary measure. At least 13 hostages, including two children, managed to escape ahead of the security operation, police said.
The Iraqi authorities ordered the attackers to release the hostages and to turn themselves in, warning that they would storm the church if they do not comply. A few hours passed quietly as military units took up positions outside the church, including several American units, said Chulov.
"Then all hell broke loose," he said. A firefight erupted and Chulov said he heard three to four large explosions. Later, he saw about 20 ambulances race away from the scene.
The American military spokesman minimized the role U.S. troops played in the operation.
"The U.S. only provided UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) support with video imagery. As always we have advisers with the ISF (Iraqi security forces) command teams," said Bloom.
While the U.S. combat mission in Iraq officially ended earlier this year, some 50,000 American troops are expected to remain in the country until the end of 2011 to train, assist and advise Iraqi troops.
Two guards were killed and four others were wounded in the earlier attack on the stock market, according to the police officials.
The attackers also remotely detonated two car bombs outside the stock exchange, they said.
===========
Fifty-two killed in Iraq church raid
01 Nov 2010 10:26:48 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Al Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility
* Attackers hid among children, says source
(Adds Christian lawmaker comments, background)
By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Fifty-two hostages and police officers were killed when security forces raided a Baghdad church to free more than 100 Iraqi Catholics held by al Qaeda-linked gunmen, a deputy interior minister said on Monday.
Lieutenant General Hussein Kamal said 67 people were also wounded in the raid on the church, which was seized by guerrillas during Sunday mass in the bloodiest attack in Iraq since August. The death toll was many times higher than that given overnight in the hours after the raid.
The gunmen took hostages at the Our Lady of Salvation Church, one of Baghdad's largest and demanded the release of al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt.
"This death toll is for civilians and security force members. We don't differentiate between police and civilians. They are all Iraqis," Kamal said, adding the number did not include dead attackers.
At least one bomb exploded at the start of the siege. Sporadic gunfire rang out for several hours over the Karrada neighbourhood near the heavily fortified Green Zone district where many embassies and government offices are located.
U.S. and Iraqi military helicopters thundered overhead as security forces cordoned off the area.
A federal police source who declined to be identified said Sunday's rescue operation was extremely difficult.
"The attackers were among children, armed with weapons," the source said. "Most of the casualties were killed or wounded when the security forces raided the place."
Iraq's Christian minority has frequently been targeted by militants, with churches bombed and priests assassinated.
"While I was trying to find my way out, in the dark, I walked over bodies," a Christian woman who was one of the hostages told Reuters late on Sunday, asking not to be identified. "There are many bodies there."
Officials say some of the attackers blew up explosives vests or threw grenades during the raid.
CHRISTIAN LAWMAKER CRITICAL
Officials said the attackers threatened to kill the 120 hostages unless al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt were freed.
A Christian lawmaker denounced the performance of Iraqi security forces in the incident and said the lack of a new government in Iraq almost eight months after an inconclusive election was being exploited by insurgents.
"This operation hits at the credibility of the government and its ability to handle, preserve and impose security and the enforcement of law," the member of parliament, Younadam Kana, said.
"Because of their lack of professionalism, and the hasty action taken by security forces in freeing the hostages, many innocent people were killed."
The failure of Iraqi leaders to agree on a new government so long after the March election has stoked tensions just as U.S. forces cut back their presence and end combat operations ahead of a full withdrawal next year.
Although violence has fallen sharply since the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07, attacks by Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Shi'ite militia continue daily.
Sunday's attack followed the bombing of a cafe in Diyala province on Friday in which 22 people died, interrupting a relatively long period without a major assault by suspected Sunni Islamist insurgents.
The last high-profile suicide bombing took place on Sept. 5 when insurgents stormed an army base in Baghdad.
Al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack on "the dirty den of idolatry".
It said in a statement posted on radical Islamic websites that it was an action against the Coptic church in Egypt, which it seemed to accuse of imprisoning Muslim women. (Additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy and Waleed Ibrahim; Writing by Michael Christie and Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Peter Graff)
============
Fifty-two killed in Iraq church raid
Hostages held in Iraqi church siege
2:41am EDT
By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD | Mon Nov 1, 2010 6:28am EDT
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fifty-two hostages and police officers were killed when security forces raided a Baghdad church to free more than 100 Iraqi Catholics held by al Qaeda-linked gunmen, a deputy interior minister said on Monday.
Lieutenant General Hussein Kamal said 67 people were also wounded in the raid on the church, which was seized by guerrillas during Sunday mass in the bloodiest attack in Iraq since August. The death toll was many times higher than that given overnight in the hours after the raid.
The gunmen took hostages at the Our Lady of Salvation Church, one of Baghdad's largest and demanded the release of al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt.
"This death toll is for civilians and security force members. We don't differentiate between police and civilians. They are all Iraqis," Kamal said, adding the number did not include dead attackers.
At least one bomb exploded at the start of the siege. Sporadic gunfire rang out for several hours over the Karrada neighborhood near the heavily fortified Green Zone district where many embassies and government offices are located.
U.S. and Iraqi military helicopters thundered overhead as security forces cordoned off the area.
A federal police source who declined to be identified said Sunday's rescue operation was extremely difficult.
"The attackers were among children, armed with weapons," the source said. "Most of the casualties were killed or wounded when the security forces raided the place."
Iraq's Christian minority has frequently been targeted by militants, with churches bombed and priests assassinated.
"While I was trying to find my way out, in the dark, I walked over bodies," a Christian woman who was one of the hostages told Reuters late on Sunday, asking not to be identified. "There are many bodies there."
Officials say some of the attackers blew up explosives vests or threw grenades during the raid.
CHRISTIAN LAWMAKER CRITICAL
Officials said the attackers threatened to kill the 120 hostages unless al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt were freed.
A Christian lawmaker denounced the performance of Iraqi security forces in the incident and said the lack of a new government in Iraq almost eight months after an inconclusive election was being exploited by insurgents.
"This operation hits at the credibility of the government and its ability to handle, preserve and impose security and the enforcement of law," the member of parliament, Younadam Kana, said.
==
Pope Benedict condemned Sunday's attack in remarks to pilgrims gathered to hear his prayer in St Peter's Square for the Catholic All Saints' Day holiday.
"I pray for the victims of this senseless violence, made even more ferocious because it struck defenseless people who were gathered in the house of God, which is a house of love and reconciliation," he said.
Although violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07, attacks by Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite militia continue daily.
The failure of Iraqi leaders to agree on a new government since an inconclusive March election has added to tension just as U.S. forces cut back their presence and ended combat operations ahead of a full withdrawal next year.
A Christian lawmaker denounced the performance of Iraqi forces and said insurgents were exploiting the political vacuum.
"This operation hits at the credibility of the government and its ability to handle, preserve and impose security and the enforcement of law," member of parliament Younadam Kana said.
"Because of their lack of professionalism, and the hasty action taken by security forces in freeing the hostages, many innocent people were killed."
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Iraq would not be deterred from clawing its way out of bloodshed and violence.
"This crime of terrorism was aimed at destabilizing security and stability and creating chaos and driving Iraqis from their homeland," Maliki said in a statement, demanding vigilance from Iraq's security forces.
Sunday's attack followed the bombing of a cafe in Diyala province on Friday in which 22 people died, interrupting a relatively long period without a major assault by suspected Sunni Islamist insurgents.
The previous high-profile suicide bombing took place on September 5 when insurgents stormed an army base in Baghdad.
(Additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy, Waleed Ibrahim, Ahmed Rasheed and Reuters Television; Writing by Michael Christie and Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Peter Graff)
=============
INTERVIEW-Iraqi cardinal denounces church attack
01 Nov 2010 19:43:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Denounces attack that killed 52 people
* Says security in Iraq crucial for peace and stability
By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The leader of Iraq's Catholics denounced on Monday the attack on a church in Baghdad that killed 52 people, calling for security in the country to be stepped up.
Sunday's al Qaeda attack on the Our Lady of Salvation Church during mass was the bloodiest against Iraqi Christians in the seven years of sectarian war that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, church officials said.
"We denounce the killing of (this) large number of innocent people and the attack against those who were praying and asking God for love and peace," Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad, told Reuters.
"What I have asked for before and what I'm still asking for is that protection must be provided immediately for all believers and all people without exception," he said after visiting the blood-splattered church.
The raid on the Assyrian Catholic church, one of Baghdad's largest, lasted several hours and ended with police storming the church to free more than 100 hostages seized by the guerrillas.
Lieutenant General Hussein Kamal, a deputy interior minister, said 52 hostages and police were killed and 67 wounded.
"What happened in the church is tormenting for us. We feel resentful for what happened against innocent Christians as equally we feel sorry for what is happening to our Muslim brothers," Delly said.
Iraq's Christians, who once numbered 1.5 million out of a total Iraqi population of 30 million, have frequently been targeted by militants since the invasion, with churches bombed and priests assassinated. Many have fled.
While overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the peak of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07, concerns remain that a political vacuum eight months after an inconclusive election is being exploited by insurgents.
Iraq's main Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurd factions have so far been unable to agree on the formation of a new government, adding to tension as U.S. forces reduce their presence and end combat operations before a full withdrawal next year.
Attacks by Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite militia continue.
"If there is no security, then no peace, stability or prosperity can be achieved," Delly said.
Christian denominations in Iraq include Chaldeans, Copts, Roman and Melkite Catholics, Maronites and Greek Orthodox. (Writing by Serena Chaudhry)
=========================
Iraqi Christians mourn after church siege kills 58
78 wounded in standoff
An Iraqi man is consoled by friends at the scene of a car bomb attack Monday in front of a Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad. Islamic militants held about 120 Iraqi Christians hostage in a church Sunday before security forces freed them, ending a standoff that left dozens of people dead. (Associated Press)An Iraqi man is consoled by friends at the scene of a car bomb attack Monday in front of a Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad. Islamic militants held about 120 Iraqi Christians hostage in a church Sunday before security forces freed them, ending a standoff that left dozens of people dead. (Associated Press)
By Barbara Surk and Hamid Ahmed
-
Associated Press
5:26 p.m., Monday, November 1, 2010
Do you think Republicans will win control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday?
BAGHDAD | Iraq's dwindling Christian community was grieving and afraid Monday after militants seized a Baghdad church during evening Mass, held the congregation hostage and triggered a raid by Iraqi security forces. The bloodbath left at least 58 people dead and 78 wounded — nearly everyone inside.
The attack, claimed by an al Qaeda-linked group, was the deadliest recorded against Iraq's Christians, whose numbers have plummeted since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion as the community has fled to other countries.
Pope Benedict XVI denounced the assault on Our Lady of Salvation Church as "ferocious" and called for renewed international efforts to broker peace in the region.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also condemned the siege, saying it was an attempt to drive more Christians out of the country.
Islamic militants have systematically attacked Christians in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. Catholics made up 2.89 percent of Iraq's population in 1980; by 2008 they were merely 0.89 percent.
Workers carry a coffin out of Our Lady of Salvation Church the morning after its congregation was taken hostage Sunday in Baghdad. Dozens of people were killed, including a priest, before Iraqi security forces ended the standoff. (Associated Press)Workers carry a coffin out of Our Lady of Salvation Church the morning after its congregation was taken hostage Sunday in Baghdad. Dozens of people were killed, including a priest, before Iraqi security forces ended the standoff. (Associated Press)
Sunday's bloodbath began at dusk, when a car bomb went off in the area, and then militants wearing suicide vests and armed with grenades attacked the Iraqi stock exchange.
The car bombing and the attack on the stock exchange, in which only two guards were injured, may have been an attempt by the militants to divert attention from their real target — the nearby church, in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood.
That attack soon followed. The gunmen went inside the church and took about 120 Christians hostage.
At least 58 people were killed, including 12 policemen as well as five bystanders thought to have been killed by the car bombing and blasts outside the church before the attackers stormed inside. Forty-one Christians inside the church also died, including two priests.
It was unclear whether most hostages died before or during the rescue.
===
An Iraqi official who was on the scene as the hostage drama unfolded said he talked on a cell phone with one of the hostages during the siege. He said the hostage described how insurgents began shooting wildly when they went into the church and said he could see about 40 wounded people lying around him on the floor.
The Iraqi official said he then spoke on the phone to one of the militants. During the four-minute conversation, the militant demanded that Iraqi authorities release its al Qaeda prisoners and stressed that all female prisoners should be released immediately. The official said he judged by the militant's accent and speech that he was not Iraqi.
When Iraqi special forces joined police and other officials already on the scene, they heard gunshots and decided to enter the church "to prevent the further loss of innocent lives," said Army Lt. Col. Terry L. Conder, a spokesman for U.S. special forces.
When the Iraqis stormed the building, the militants were shooting at the hostages, the Iraqi official said.
=============
By BARBARA SURK and LARA JAKES, Associated Press Barbara Surk And Lara Jakes, Associated Press – 19 mins ago
BAGHDAD – After the gunmen killed the priest and nearly everyone in the first row, an eerie quiet descended over the pews. The only occasional sounds were sporadic gunfire, the muffled cries of the hostages and the shouts of Islamic militants — sometimes over their cell phones.
Suddenly the lights went out. Iraqi forces began entering the building, telling parishioners: "We will save you."
Then a shattering blast shook the church as a suicide bomber set off his explosives.
By the time the siege of Our Lady of Salvation church was over Sunday night, 58 people were dead and 78 wounded — nearly everyone inside the building.
The attack, claimed by an al-Qaida-linked organization, was the deadliest recorded against Iraq's Christians since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion unleashed a wave of violence against them.
The scope of the slaughter only became clear on Monday after a long night of confusion and conflicting reports. Iraqi officials had initially provided a much lower death toll.
Pope Benedict XVI denounced the militants' assault as "ferocious," the White House condemned it as "senseless" and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said it harkened back to the days of sectarian warfare between Muslim sects.
Christians who cowered for hours inside the stone building that used to be their peaceful sanctuary wondered why they were yet again the target of violence.
"They are criminals and more than criminals. What type of man kills people at prayer? What have we done to receive this?" said Aida Jameel, a 65-year-old Christian woman who was shot in her leg.
The violence began around 5:30 Sunday evening in what a senior Iraqi security official said appeared to be a suicide mission.
The official described the attack as it unfolded based on a preliminary internal investigation by Iraqi authorities that depended, in part, on statements from survivors. His chilling account was verified by other Iraqi security officials at the scene, the U.S. military in Baghdad, and interviews of survivors who spoke to The Associated Press.
Shortly before sunset, the gunmen drove a black Jeep Cherokee to the church. They blew it up, destroying their getaway car, and set off four small bombs in the neighborhood. In a brief shootout at the nearby Iraq stock exchange, the militants wounded two policemen.
Seven or eight militants then charged through the front doors of the church, interrupting the evening Mass service. They rushed down the aisle, brandishing their machine guns and spraying the room with bullets.
They ordered the priest to call the Vatican to demand the release of Muslim women who they claimed were being held captive by the Coptic church in Egypt. When the priest said he could not do that, the gunmen shot him and turned their guns on the congregation, killing most of those in the front pew.
One woman told investigators she survived only because her father wrapped himself around her body in a shield that ultimately killed him.
During the next three hours, Iraqi military officials tried to negotiate with the insurgents who refused to back off their demands. The gunmen also called reporters from the Egypt-based satellite TV al-Baghdadiya channel. The channel's Baghdad office went off the air Monday in a dispute with Iraqi authorities about their role in the incident.
"I only heard people weeping, probably because they were hurt and in pain," said Rauf Naamat, one of the worshippers. "Most people were too afraid to produce a sound. They feared militants would kill them, if they heard them."
More than three hours into the attack, Iraqi security forces turned off the lights. Naamat said he could hear a voice telling parishioners: "We are Iraqi forces. Stand up and keep quiet. We will save you."
He said he saw a militant approach the security forces as they made their way to the altar. The man then detonated his explosives best, unleashing a massive blast.
There were conflicting accounts of anywhere from one to seven gunmen blowing themselves up. According to two security officials, most of the deaths took place in the basement where a gunman killed about 30 hostages when Iraqi forces began to enter the church. One official said the gunman set off an explosives vest he was wearing, but the other said the gunman threw two grenades at his hostages.
Younadem Kana, a Christian member of the Iraqi parliament, condemned the rescue operation as "hasty" and "not professional."
But U.S. and Iraqi officials said they had to act because they heard gunshots from inside the church and knew the militants were shooting hostages.
It was not possible to confirm or contradict this account from the accounts of survivors. One witness said there was sporadic gunfire during the siege.
Iraqi special forces stormed the church "to prevent the further loss of innocent lives," said Lt. Col. Terry L. Conder, a spokesman for U.S. special forces. He said the Iraqi commando teams rescued 70 hostages.
Authorities worked through the night to remove the bodies. All that was left of the Jeep outside was a pile of mangled metal.
The 58 people who died included 12 policemen and five bystanders from the car bombing and other blasts outside the church. Forty-one Christians inside the church also died, including two priests.
Baghdad military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said five suspects were arrested in connection with the attack — some of whom were not Iraqi.
A cryptically worded statement posted late Sunday on a militant website allegedly by the Islamic State of Iraq appeared to claim responsibility for the attack.
The group, which is linked to al-Qaida in Iraq, said it would "exterminate Iraqi Christians" if Muslim women in Egypt were not freed.
It specifically mentioned two women who extremists maintain have converted to Islam and are being held against their will in Egypt.
Even for a nation used to daily violence after years of war, Sunday's church killings at the hands of Islamic militants shocked Iraqis and forced Christians around the world to take notice.
Grieving and afraid, Iraqi Christians said Monday they may now join what Catholic officials estimate is more than 1 million fellow worshippers who have been driven out of the country by Islamic militants since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
"It was a massacre in there," said Raed Hadi, whose cousin was killed in the attack. "We Christians don't have enough protection. ... What shall I do now? Leave and ask for asylum?"
In an interview, Iraq's top Catholic prelate, Chaldean Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, encouraged the country's remaining 1.5 million Christians to stay.
"We have never seen anything like it, militants attacking God's house with worshippers praying for peace," Delly said.
The number of Arab Christians has plummeted across the Mideast in recent years as many seek to move to the West. The exodus has been particularly stark in Iraq, where Christians historically made up a large portion of the country's middle class, including key jobs as doctors, engineers, intellectuals and civil servants.
The sorrow that swept Iraq on Monday was felt far beyond its Christian community. Many Muslims also denounced the killings as senseless.
"These people do not value human life and have no respect for any religion," Baghdad's governor, Salah Abdul-Razzaq, said after visiting the church. "They say they are Muslims, but they killed here in cold blood."
___
Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad, Sameer N. Yacoub in Amman, Jordan and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston contributed to this report.
===============
Iraq probes church raid; says attackers disguised
02 Nov 2010 14:25:59 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Investigation launched into attack
* Attackers wore private security guard uniform
* Conflicting reports on final death toll
By Waleed Ibrahim
BAGHDAD, Nov 2 (Reuters) -Iraq launched an investigation on Tuesday into a church raid in which 52 hostages and police were killed, trying to find out how al Qaeda-linked gunmen managed to storm the building despite checkpoints, an official said.
Sunday's attack was the bloodiest against Iraq's Christian minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and drove fear deep into the hearts of many Iraqi Christians who had so far resisted the urge to flee their war-torn country.
Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said the assailants were disguised as guards working for a private security firm and carried fake ids.
"We have formed an investigation to uncover details of the attack and if we discover anyone has been negligent or complicit, he will be held strictly accountable," Moussawi said.
"We have many question marks about how such a large number of terrorists managed to reach the church in the heart of Baghdad," he said.
Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim said the authorities ordered the detention of the police commander in charge of the district where the church attack took place for questioning, a standard procedure after high-profile attacks.
Gunmen tied to an Iraqi al Qaeda offshoot seized hostages at the Our Lady of Salvation Church, a Syrian Catholic cathedral, during Sunday mass, demanding the release of women they said had converted to Islam but were being detained by the Coptic church in Egypt. Early reports said they also sought the release of al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt. [ID:nLDE6A01R6]
The attack, which lasted several hours, ended when security forces raided the church to free more than 100 Iraqi Catholics.
The siege was far from being one of the bloodiest incidents in the 7-1/2 years of sectarian warfare and insurgency unleashed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and in which tens of thousands of Iraqis died, the vast majority Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims.
But it has provoked a worldwide outburst of anguish and cast a spotlight on Iraq's fragile stability as the sectarian bloodshed recedes and U.S. forces scale down their presence ahead of a full withdrawal next year.
Iraq is still waiting for politicians to agree on a new government almost eight months after an inconclusive election, creating a political vacuum that Sunni Islamist insurgents have sought to exploit through devastating assaults.
Some security officials said most of Sunday's casualties occurred during the raid, either when assailants wearing suicide vests blew themselves up or threw grenades, or in the ensuing gunfight. Other reports on Tuesday said the gunmen might have started to kill the hostages en masse before the police raid. Communications authorities ordered the closure of an Iraqi TV channel, al-Baghdadiya, that they accused of broadcasting a report about the rescue mission before it began.
The Communications and Media Commission said the report might have "pushed the attackers into speeding up their plans to kill their hostages and blow up the church, forcing the security forces to storm the church ..."
PROFESSIONAL
Moussawi said investigations so far had shown the attackers, who he said were 10 in number and included five suicide bombers, were well prepared. Five were arrested.
"The terrorists were professional. They were carrying fake identity cards and also fake official letters, and they were wearing the uniforms of private security guards," Moussawi said.
Reports on the final death toll were confusing on Tuesday.
Deputy Health Minister Khamis al-Saad said 34 people were killed and 77 wounded. The defence minister said 34 civilians and 9 security force members died.
A deputy interior minister said on Monday that 52 police and hostages had died.
The conflicting numbers provided by the health ministry could be a result of a delay in hospitals sending through paperwork on the death certificates they had issued.
"Nowhere is safe anymore, not even the House of God," the auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Shlemon Warduni, told Vatican Radio.
"This attack will have a very negative influence on those who until now had chosen to remain in Baghdad, with many saying they are ready to leave." (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Aseel Kami and Suadad al-Salhy in Baghdad, Tom Heneghan in Paris; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Michael Christie)
========
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Nov 10
10 Nov 2010 09:49:35 GMT
Source: Reuters
Nov 10 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 0930 GMT on Wednesday.
BAGHDAD - Two mortar rounds landed in a Christian enclave in Baghdad's southern Doura district, wounding five people, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A bomb wounded a Christian man when it exploded near his house in Baghdad's southern Doura district, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Two bombs went off near a Christian family's house, wounding two members of the family, in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A bomb went off near the home of a Christian family, wounding four, in Baghdad's Doura district, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Three Christians were wounded by a bomb in the Adhamiya district of northern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Two bombs went off near the house of a Christian family in Baghdad's central Karrada district, wounding two members of the family, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Two bombs exploded in Baghdad's central Karrada district, killing two Christians and wounding four, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Two bombs went off near a church, wounding two Christians, in Baghdad's eastern Camp Sara district, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - One Christian was killed and two were wounded when two bombs went off near their homes in Baghdad's eastern Camp Sara district, an Interior Ministry source said.
GARMA - Gunmen shot dead Abbas Mahmoud, the imam of a Sunni mosque in the town of Garma, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad, a police source said.
BAGHDAD - Three bombs went off near the home of a Christian family in Baghdad's west-central Mansour district on Tuesday and wounded three people, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb went off near the house of a Christian family, killing one person and wounded five, in Baghdad's western Amiriya district on Tuesday night, an Interior Ministry source said.
(Compiled by Baghdad newsroom)
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