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Analysis:Top Shiite condemns church bombs

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  • Analysis:Top Shiite condemns church bombs

    United Press International
    Aug 2 2004

    Analysis:Top Shiite condemns church bombs
    By Roland Flamini
    Chief International Correspondent



    WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The most significant voice raised in
    condemnation of Sunday's wave of bomb attacks on Christian churches
    in Iraq belonged to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Shiite Muslim
    leader.

    "We denounce and condemn these terrible crimes," Sistani declared in
    a statement Monday. "We stress the need to respect the rights of
    Christians in Iraq and those of other religions, including their
    right to live in their own home, Iraq, in peace." Sistani is
    considered the most authoritative cleric in Iraq's Shiite community
    comprising over 60 percent of the population. His quick reaction was
    seen as an attempt to distance mainstream Shiites from the bombings.

    The bombings -- clearly coordinated -- were the first open attack on
    Iraq's Christian minority, although the community had been under
    mounting pressure for some time. So far, no group has claimed
    responsibility, but some Iraqi Christians had privately said Shiite
    fundamentalists could have been responsible.

    The national security adviser to Iraq's interim government, however,
    blames al-Qaida-linked terrorists. Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, said there was
    "no shadow of a doubt that (these attacks) bear the trademark of Abu
    Musab al Zarqawi." The Jordanian-born terrorist who is said to have
    links to al-Qaida is blamed for a string of suicide bombings in Iraq.
    His group has claimed responsibility for the beheadings of an
    American and a South Korean, and the U.S. government has offered a
    $25 million reward for his capture.

    "It's clear (Zarqawi and his extremists) want to drive Christians out
    of the country," Rubaie is quoted as saying by the Italian news
    agency ANSA. But Iraq's Christians are going anyway. Once just shy of
    a million, the Christian community has dwindled down to about 650,000
    because of a steady exodus. Tolerated by the Saddam Hussein regime as
    long as they kept a low profile, Iraqi Christians are being driven
    out by fears of the present violence and uncertainty about the
    future.

    The pressure has come from Islamic fundamentalists, according to
    Iraqi church sources. Many Christians have received anonymous letters
    urging them to convert to Islam. The letters usually include a list
    of the consequences of refusal, which include death.

    Several Christian businessmen who sold alcohol have been attacked by
    Muslim fundamentalists in a recent campaign against alcohol sales in
    Iraq. Many of the victims were Armenians, according to reports
    published in Iraq, and the first car bomb blast Sunday was outside an
    Armenian church in Baghdad.

    Also, some Iraqi clerics say Christians have become identified with
    the U.S.-led coalition forces, which are mainly from Christian
    countries.

    The revised death toll from the car bomb blasts outside four churches
    in Baghdad and one in Mosul during or immediately after Sunday
    services was 11, according to Iraqi authorities Monday. Ten
    worshippers died in Baghdad, and one in the northern city of Mosul,
    in the Sunni Muslim heartland, 220 miles from Baghdad. A sixth bomb
    was found outside another Baghdad church and disarmed by Iraqi
    police.

    Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II sent a message of condolence to the
    Catholic patriarch of Iraq, Emmnuel III Delly. "In this hour of trial
    I feel spiritually close to the Iraqi church and Iraqi society, and I
    renew my expression of solidarity with the pastors and faithful," the
    pope wrote. He said he would continue to work and pray "so that a
    climate of peace and reconciliation will soon return to that beloved
    country."

    Vatican sources said Monday that the bombings had alarmed the pope,
    who is concerned that a wave of anti-Christian feeling in Iraq could
    spread to other Arab countries and turn into a virtual religious war
    between Islam and Christianity.

    The Russian Orthodox church also issued a statement condemning
    Sunday's attacks. In addition to the Chaldean, Syrian and Assyrian
    Catholics in communion with Rome, Iraqi Christian denominations
    include Armenian, Syrian and Greek Orthodox churches, Presbyterians
    and Anglicans.
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