Christian priest killed in Iraq
April 6, 2008 by Chad Day
A Syrian Orthodox priest was killed by a silenced pistol outside his Baghdad home Saturday, The New York Times reported.
The killing marks the second time a Syrian Orthodox priest has been killed this year.
Speaking from the heavily barricaded cathedral, Archbishop Hawa said: “This tragedy came as a surprise to us because we did not receive any threat. He was still in his religious garments so we believe they followed him from the market to his house and killed him. The most important point is that he was killed because he was a religious man.”
But the archbishop said the “hand of the devil” was directed at all Iraqi sects, Muslim and Christian alike.
“Educated people, scientists, those who are working for the benefit of the country are all targeted,” he said. “If we lose one from our sect, 100 will be lost from other sects.”
— The New York Times
The recent violence against Christians in Iraq can be attributed to the U.S. decision to disband the Iraqi army in 2003, said Abu Noor, an Iraqi quoted in the article.
“All educated people are targeted,” he said. “It is the fault of the Americans.
“When they discharged the army, everything was lost,” he continued, referring to the decision by the American occupation authority to dismiss the entire Iraqi Army in 2003. “These people had no work and no money to live, so of course they will go into gangs. And a weak government with no police detectives, how can they manage?”
The invasion had caused only harm for Iraq’s Christians, he said.
“I heartily believe that we were living better under the old regime. No one could threaten the Christians then.”
