Saturday, May 15, 2010

Bus Bombings Show Plight of Christians in Iraq
HAMDANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) -- Wailing with grief and rage, Iraqi Christians this week buried the teenage victim of a bombing and lamented again their vulnerability in the complex stew of Iraq's sectarian warfare and Arab-Kurd disputes.
Thousands turned out for the funeral of Sandy Shibib, 19, a first-year biology student at Mosul University, who died on Tuesday from head wounds caused by shrapnel when bombers struck buses carrying Christian students in northern Iraq on May 2.
"As students, we were heading to university, not to a battlefield. We carried no weapons. Nevertheless, we were targeted," said Maha Tuma, a schoolmate of Shibib.
"May God rest her soul and give patience to her family," Tuma said, sobbing at Shibib's burial early on Tuesday at the cemetery of Bahnam and Sara church in Qaraqush.
Numbering some 750,000 in a predominantly Muslim nation of about 30 million, Christians are trapped in the crossfire of sectarian strife and a simmering feud in disputed northern areas over land and some of the world's richest oilfields.
Hundreds of thousands of Christians -- who Pope Benedict called "the most vulnerable religious minority in Iraq" in a Vatican appeal for better security -- have left their country since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The United Nations said around 4,100 Christians fled the restive northern city of Mosul, perhaps Iraq's most dangerous place, between Feb. 20 and 27 after attacks in which eight Christians died; shot in the street, or at work.
The four buses that carried Sandy Shibib and other students were travelling from the largely Christian district of Qaraqush, in the town of Hamdaniya, to Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, when the bombers attacked.
ORIGINAL SETTLERS
Qaraqush is located among the mostly Christian towns of the Nineveh plain. Christians believe they were the first settlers in the area, their roots tracing back hundreds of years before Christ to the Assyrians, one of the most famous civilizations born in Mesopotamia, the historical name of Iraq.
"Christians are the original people of this area," said Louis Marqush Ayoub, a member of the Hamdaniya municipal council. "We Christians have not been a part of any conflict concerning power in Iraq. What is going on is a part of political, foreign and regional agendas."
The Nineveh plain includes disputed areas that Kurds want to fold into the virtually autonomous northern region known as Iraqi Kurdistan. Those demands have been rejected by the central government in Baghdad and by Iraqi Arab factions.
The disputed areas include Kirkuk, a city with an unsettled mix of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and others that sits atop what U.S. officials say may be 4 percent of the world's oil reserves.
"The majority of Christians are living in the disputed areas. Because of this, they are now under the agenda of the internal groups, especially Kurds and Arab Sunnis," said William Warda, chairman of the Hammurabi Human Rights organization.
'WEAKEST LINK'
Christians have tried to keep a low profile during the sectarian warfare between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims unleashed by the U.S. invasion but they have come under attack nonetheless. Bombers target churches and kidnappers hold priests for ransom.
It is frequently unclear who is attacking Christians and why. Some see an official hand at work. Others say the motive could be as simple as robbery or extortion.
Sunni Islamist extremists may despise them because they are Christians. Kurdish factions may covet their land or want to prevent them from voting for opponents.
"There is a kind of plan to move the Christians and to put pressure on them ... Christians do not have protection, nor do they have a militia," Warda said. "They are the weakest link in the chain."
Because of the attacks, the Christian students of Hamdaniya have stopped going to Mosul University, the only university in Nineveh province. Dozens staged sit-ins this week to press authorities to find them a refuge for final exams.
"Because of physical injuries and psychological damages we suffered from these attacks, we call on the prime minister and the minister of higher education to allow us to take the exams in our town, Qaraqush, or any peaceful and safe place," student Meron Bahnam said.
By Saif Tawfiq
Writing by Waleed Ibrahim; editing by Jim Loney and Philippa Fletcher.

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