Region | Iraq
Displaced Christians still reluctant to return home
Despite Iraqi security authorities' decision to deploy thousands of troops to oversee the security of the Christian population of Mosul, many families are reluctant to return.
- By Basil Adas, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 October 18, 2008
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
- The Baghdad government has developed a security plan aimed at securing the return of all the Christian families that left their neighbourhoods, but most residents are not reassured.
Baghdad: Despite Iraqi security authorities' decision to deploy thousands of troops to oversee the security of the Christian population of Mosul, many families are reluctant to return.
"I have not received any direct threat, but after the killing of a disabled Christian man, and then later a pharmacist, we knew these were systematic attacks carried out to strip Mosul of its Christian identity," Abu Nour Al Zuhoor, a 38-year old resident of Mosul with four children, told Gulf News.
The Iraqi government has developed a security plan aimed at securing the return of all the Christian families that left their neighbourhoods, but Katie Al Qaban, a 50-year-old Christian woman who came from the Al Hadbaa neighbourhood of Mosul, says she is not assured.
Lack of trust
"I cannot trust the guarantees provided by the security authorities because the danger exists. When the assassinations took pace, the security forces were in place. The killings are happening in narrow alleys and the forces cannot protect each house one by one, " she said.
It is believed by the Christian clergy that the assassination of Christians has no relation to the electoral quota that Christian politicians called for, because the first victim was the doctor Khalid Al Qaban, who was assassinated on August 30 - much before the enactment of the provincial councils law.
Related Links
Murad Kourkis, a teacher and father of two, left his home in the Al Tahrir district escaping assassination. "There are external parties planning to target Christians and they are local extremists from inside Mosul. The Iraqi government must investigate the matter. I cannot return until those involved are identified and arrested," he told Gulf News.
More from Iraq
More from Region
News Editor's choice
-
6,000 cups and counting: Addicted to that tea
This cafeteria in Al Mamzar attracts thousands of customers daily, including the rich and not so rich
-
Swimming pool horror: Twins hospitalised
Twins rushed to hospital after collapsing from chlorine inhalation at swimming pool in their villa
-
Play your cards right with credit card interest
UAE Central Bank plans to cap interest rates, but are you paying thirty-five per cent now?
