-party parliamentary election in half a century, Sunday, January 30, despite fears of fresh violence and worries that voters will elect a Shiite regime that would persecute Christians and enact Islamic law as legislative policy.
News reports said insurgents, who are believed to include Islamic radicals, targeted voting stations and that at least 17 people died in bombing and rocket attacks throughout the country Saturday, January 29. Dozens of other Iraqis were also killed in the previous days, and 31 American marines died Wednesday, January 26, in a helicopter crash in Western Iraq.
In a statement monitored by BosNewsLife, the Washington based human rights group International Christian Concern (ICC) claimed that especially the "ChaldoAssyrian Christians in Iraq," who are believed to be the country’s indigenous people, were "continually singled out by insurgents and by the neighboring Kurds."
Before Saturday’s violence, the Christians already "endured suicide bombings at their churches, acid thrown on women for not wearing the hijab, kidnappings for profit, and the murder of store owners," ICC said.
CHRISTIAN ENTERPRENEURS
Christian entrepreneurs selling alcohol are among those targeted by Islamic gunmen, BosNewsLife established in Baghdad. In addition, "leading up to the election, the Assyrian town of Bakhdeda has come under attack from groups linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party," ICC added.
Another problem is that from the 20 billion dollars designated by the United States for the reconstruction of Iraq, the Kurdish administration "released no money" to rebuild Christian areas in Kurdish-run northern Iraq, the human rights organization claimed. Kurdish officials were not immediately available to comment on the allegations.
The apparent persecution of many of Iraq’s up to one million Christians came as people supporting them urged believers to pray for peace, tolerance and openness among Islamic hardliners for the Gospel.
ISLAMIC DOMINATION
"To combat the possibilities of violence and radical Islamic domination in Iraq, Christians must pray for the elections to be peaceful and effective, "said Samuel Shahid, who teaches Islamic studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in an interview with the Baptist Press (BP) news agency.
But he admitted this may be difficult amid American allegations that, to sway it neighbor to
Shiite rule, Iran has poured money, armed militia and secret agents into Iraq. Iraqi and
United States officials have also expressed concern that over one million Iranians have
reportedly entered Iraq as part of efforts to skew the elections in favor of the Shiites, who form the largest Muslim community here.
Shahid told BP that observers cannot be certain about the plans of Shiite leaders until after the elections. Iraqis will be choosing a 275-member national assembly and provincial governing councils on Sunday, January 30. The assembly is expected to draft a constitution that will clear the way for elections to choose a permanent government later this year. It was therefore important that Christians pray "that the church [in Iraq] will enjoy the freedom to worship and preach the Gospel," Shahid was quoted as saying. He stressed it was crucial that "everything goes well and that Iraq will become a model for democracy for the entire Middle East."
BAPTISTS ACTIVE
Baptists from the United States and other countries have been very active in Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to help persecuted Christians and others in need. "On behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention, I would like to call for two days of prayer and fasting on Jan. 30 and 31," added Rev. Bobby Welch, president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"Due to requests from our chaplains and missionaries in Iraq, we need to dedicate these days to praying that democracy would be realized in Iraq, the people of Iraq will be safe and will vote, and especially for the safety of [American and coalition] troops," he told in a statement released by BP.
