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| Iraq |
| Islamists threaten Assyrian churches in northern Iraq |
| 2008-07-02 |
| An Islamic group calling itself "The Battalion of Just Punishment, Jihad Base in Mesopotamia" has sent a letter to churches in Mosul. The letter [shown and translated at link] threatens the Assyrians and asks them to refrain from cooperating with Americans, and not to pursue the establishment of a local (i.e., Assyrian/Christian) police force. The letter refers to Assyrians as "Dhimmi", the Koranic term used to refer to Christians and Jews, and which signifies lesser legal and social status for Christians and Jews. According to an Assyrian community leader in Mosul, the letter's reference to the establishment of a local Assyrian police force is odd. "I suspect this letter may have actually come from Ansar Al-Islam," he said "because the Kurds don't want us to have our own police force." Ansar Al-Islam is the Kurdish Islamic group affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The issue of an Assyrian police force has come to the forefront in recent months as Assyrian churches have been bombed and priests and bishops have been kidnapped and murdered |
| Posted by:ryuge |