Iraq: Mosul: targeted execution of Christians continues in media and government silence

January 19th, 2010

Yesterday an armed group killed a 45 year-old businessman. It is the second murder in less than 24 hours. Witnesses said security forces were at the scene but did not intervene. AsiaNews sources: they blame al Qaeda, but Christians are victims “of the power struggle” between Arabs and Kurds. Mosul - The second targeted attack against the Christian community in less than 24 hours, the indifference of the security forces who did not intervene. Yesterday in Mosul, northern Iraq, an unidentified group shot dead 45 year-old businessman Amjad Hamid Abdullahad.

Sunday, January 17th, the same day of the inauguration of new local archbishop, a Christian aged 52, married and father of two daughters, was killed. AsiaNews sources in the city explain that “the government blames the attacks on al-Qaeda fundamentalists “, in reality the community is victim of the power struggle between “Arab and Kurd” groups.

At noon yesterday, an armed commando executed Abdullahad Amjad Hamid, a married Syriac Catholic, who owned a small grocery store in the neighbourhood of Alsiddiq, in northern Mosul. The man was killed outside his home in the suburb of Balladiyat, not far from his workplace. Local witnesses reported that “the murder took place in front of the security forces, who saw all the phases of the attack, but did not intervene.” A Catholic in Mosul says that “the tactic is to murder Christians, because the media does not talk about it.” A strategy that aims to push Christians towards the plain of Nineveh, “in the silence and indifference of the government and the international community.”

A source for AsiaNews in Mosul, adds that “Christians are living in panic and have begun fleeing from the city”. He explains that “these are not normal criminals,” but behind them are “specific political plans” that the government is not countering. There is no information from Baghdad “about who is behind attacks on churches and Christians,” but the source is confident that the central executive, the governorship of Mosul and the Kurdish leadership “are aware” of the plan against the Christian community. “It is easier to attribute responsibility to Al Qaeda – concludes the source - and the fundamentalist fringe. In reality, Christians are victims of a power struggle between Arabs and Kurds”. (DS)