symbol of Iraqi Christians, killing the head of an Iraqi police anti-corruption unit and adding to fears among the Christian community, officials said. News reports quoted the US military as saying that a bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body in the building where Brigadier Walid Kashmoula worked. Earlier officials said it was a bomb attack, Reuters news agency reported.
Al Qaeda’s wing in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, reportedly claimed it had assassinated "the apostate Walid Kashmoula, who is the top American agent" in the area. "This will be the fate of those who stand by the polytheists," al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq reportedly said in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
IRAQ INSURGENTS
Insurgents in Iraq have repeatedly targeted leading police and army officials as well as
people supporting them, including Christians. On Saturday, March 19, a roadside bomb killed four policemen in Kirkuk during a funeral for a colleague killed a day earlier.
Last Monday, March 14, 26-year old Christian Husam Hilal Sarsam of the satellite station of
the Kurdistan Democratic Party was gunned down by his kidnappers on "the northern side of the city", staff at Mosul’s Medical City hospital announced earlier.
A family member told the French News Agency AFP that cameraman Sarsam was kidnapped two weeks ago, apparently by militants opposing the journalistic message of the television network.
FEMALE PRODUCER
In late February, the body of Raeda Wazzan, a female producer with the local affiliate of state-owned television Al-Iraqiyah, was reportedly found after she had been abducted with her 10-year-old son. Both Al-Iraqiyah and Kurdish television have reportedly aired confessions of alleged insurgents in the Mosul area.
Mosul, the third most populous city in Iraq with nearly 2 million people, is believed to be near the site of the ancient city of Nineveh, where the Bible says Prophet Jonah brought the message of repentance.
It is currently the scene of near daily insurgent attacks and US-led coalition raids. Human rights groups claim that Christians are often singled out by Muslim militants, at a time when Christian politicians try to increase their influence.
MINORITY ASSYRIANS
Supporters of Iraq’s minority Assyrians urged the United Nations and the European Union on Friday, March 18, to pressure Baghdad to give Assyrians more humanitarian aid and a voice in the new Iraqi government.
"Iraq was liberated to have freedom for everybody, not just the Shi’ites, Kurds and Sunnis," Andy Darmoo, who heads the "Save the Assyrians" campaign reportedly told a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.
Iraq’s Assyrians are Christians and speak Aramaic, the language of Christ. Some estimate there are about 1 million to 1.5 million Assyrians living in Iraq, most of them in the north, including Mosul.
DECREASED COMMUNITY
However other officials have suggested that Iraq’s Christian community has decreased to up to 750,000. Many have fled the region because of ongoing bloodshed, as they are the target of a "quiet campaign of ethnic cleansing," Christians say.
However moderate Muslims have also been targeted and a suicide bombing last week killed at least 50 Iraqi civilians and wounded nearly 80 others there near a Shiite Muslim mosque, according to military estimates.
The latest attacks overshadowed the 2nd anniversary of what Americans would describe as the beginning of Operation Freedom to free Iraq from years of dictatorship under Saddam Hussein.
"Many Iraqis are frustrated by the difficulties they’re experiencing during their country’s transition period — from concerns about security and unemployment to uncertainty about their future government to inconveniences caused by dilapidated water and electrical systems," said Donna Miles of the American Forces Press Service. (With: Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife, reports from Iraq, New York and BosNewsLife Research).
