Despicable attack on Iraqi Christians

It is disappointing to note that the gruesome killing of kidnapped Chaldean Catholic archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho in Iraq only evoked a timid condemnation from Muslim leaders in the region.

The despicable act is the biggest attack on Iraq's Christians, who have been targeted by religious extremists since the US-led invasion in 2003, and underscores the risk facing them as well as the attitude towards them in this region due to the rise of fundamentalism.

Christians in the Arab world have always been the defenders of Arab issues. They have fought hard to preserve the Arabic language and culture during subsequent foreign occupations over the past three centuries. Among them are some of the brilliant Arab poets and thinkers and political and social leaders.

They are an integral part of the Arab people and one cannot imagine a unified Iraq, or any other Arab state, without a strong and prosperous presence of Arab Christians.