minister rocked a predominantly Christian neighborhood, killing at least a dozen people and injuring many more.
Speaking to reporters aboard her plane Rice said she would tell government leaders there is little time to settle their differences amid ongoing Islamic violence, which also targets Christians.
"They don’t have time for endless debate of these issues," Rice said. "They have really got to move forward. That is one of the messages that I’ll take, but it will also be a message of support and what can we do to help." Rice was meeting Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other officials at a time when sectarian spiral of revenge killings between Shiites and Sunnis reportedly threatens to undermine his government.
Minority Christians are increasingly in the crossfire of Islamic violence, including in Baghdad’s Christian neighborhood Camp Sara, around Industry Street, where Iraqi security officials said a triple bomb attack targeting Iraq’s industry minister killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 70 in southern Baghdad Wednesday, October 4.
MINISTER SURVIVES
The minister, Fawzi al-Hariri, survived the bombings, but three of his bodyguards were among those killed, news reports said. Officials say a car bomb and two roadside bombs exploded Wednesday, October 4, as the minister’s convoy passed through the Christian area. The blasts severely damaged several buildings and destroyed many cars, eyewitnesses
said.
It was the latest in what local Christians and investigators have described as "increased violence" against believers in Iraq. "Besides the bloody strife going on between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims, the recent violence appears to be directed at Christians," said Open Doors, a Christian human rights group. In other incidents, in Baghdad and Mosul, several churches have been attacked, Open Doors and other groups say.
Last week, September 27, a group of men reportedly fired rockets on the Chaldean Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul and detonated an explosive device outside the church’s door. There were no reports of injuries. Earlier on Sunday, September 24, the Church of the Holy Spirit was fired upon by Muslims who wanted the local bishop to issue a condemnation of Pope Benedict XVI recent speech about aspects of the Islamic faith in which he questioned the concept of ‘holy war.’
HAND GRENADE
In addition, on September 24, a hand grenade was reportedly thrown at a priest’s car parked outside St Mary’s Ancient Church of the East Cathedral in Baghdad. "After police and church members arrived at the scene minutes later, a car bomb went off nearby, killing a child and the church’s guard," Open Doors said.
This weekend, Pope Benedict XVI said he was praying that "the strong ties" between Muslims and Christians in Iraq endure and prayed for peace in the "martyred country." In published comments the pope said he met September 30 with Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad who detailed "the tragic reality faced daily by the dear people of Iraq, where Christians and Muslims have lived together for 14 centuries as children of the same land."
"I hope these bonds of fraternity will not be loosened," the pope said from the window of his summer residence to pilgrims gathered in the courtyard below, October 1, Catholic news media reported. Meanwhile, a US military spokesman in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell, announced that Iraqi authorities have demobilized an entire police brigade in Baghdad for alleged complicity with militias.
The spokesman says those police will undergo re-training. At least 17 American troops have been killed in Iraq in the last four days, the Voice of America (VOA) network said. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Iraq).
