Baghdad, Iraq, Jan 10, 2008 / 12:05 pm
New fears of an organized campaign to flush Christianity out of Iraq have been sparked by the recent attacks on churches in leading Iraqi cities.
Concerns about a new "religious-cleansing" drive were raised by sources close to the Church reeling from Sunday's (January 6) coordinated bomb-blasts on at least six church buildings in Mosul and Baghdad.
Iraqi Church sources, who requested anonymity out of concern for their safety, told the Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), that while only one person was injured by the bomb attacks, the were clearly not intended to kill or cause damage. However, the assaults were still "very worrying".
ACN’s sources see Iraq becoming increasingly divided along sectarian lines, with Sunni and Shia Muslim extremists trying to expel Christians from their respective spheres of control.