Iraqi MP: Peshmerga - not al-Qaeda - targeting Christians in Mosul

Oct 14, 2008, 14:58 GMT

Baghdad- An Iraqi Sunni MP Tuesday accused Kurdish militias of being responsible for the recent campaign against the Christian community in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that has driven hundreds of families from their homes.

'The Kurdish militias - and not al-Qaeda militants - are behind the attacks against Christians,' Osama al-Najifi, a native of Mosul himself, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Pointing at the Peshmerga, al-Najifi said the Kurdish militia had 'completely infiltrated Iraqi military forces in Mosul.'

According to al-Najifi, Kurdish militias were aiming to change the demographic balance of Mosul, which is located in Nineveh Province, to serve Kurdish interests.

'We have concrete evidence and proof that Kurdish militias were behind the fleeing of more than 1,400 Christians from Mosul,' he said.

'These families either resorted to more secured Christian areas or took refuge in churches,' added al Najifi, who has a long record of defending the rights of the minorities in the Iraqi parliament.

He accused the Iraqi government of failing to provide a presence in the area, by having made political agreements which prevented the national government from having control over the province of Nineveh.

'The Christian families all over Iraq are living in unprecedented state of panic, fearing a similar fate to that of their brethren in Mosul,' al Najifi said.

At least 13 Christians have been killed in Mosul and hundreds have fled the city after receiving death threats since the end of August, according to government officials and humanitarian groups.

The rise in the attacks has taken place at the same time as Christian groups staged major demonstrations protesting the removal of Article 50 of the provincial elections law, which passed through the Iraqi parliament last week.

The article had guaranteed Christians certain rights of representation in local assemblies.

Al-Najifi said the solution to the plight of Christians in Mosul was to remove Peshmerga militias from Iraqi military forces, and for the Mosul native inhabitants to defend their Christian brethren.

Al-Najifi's remarks followed similar statements Tuesday by Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdel Karim Khalaf, who also excluded the possibility of al-Qaeda being behind the attacks on Christians.

Khalaf did not specify who was behind the campaign, but said the ministry had important information that would be revealed in a couple of days.

He also said the ministry had sent emergency forces to the city to defend the Christians.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered national police forces to Mosul on Sunday to protect Christians and secure their churches.

Meanwhile, Iraqi press reports said the Secretary General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance Yonathan Betkolia on Monday sent a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, asking him for UN protection.

The letter called for 'severe and immediate action from the UN and the Iraqi and United States governments to stop the bloodshed against both Assyrians and Christians, and to provide emergency protection for them.'

Mosul is home to the second-largest community of Christians in Iraq after Baghdad, and is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.