Wednesday, March 05, 2008

WEA RLC: Iraq (Direct Post)

After the US purged al-Qaeda from Iraq's Sunni centre in mid-2006, al-Qaeda made Mosul in northern Iraq its new base. Terrorism there then escalated with a continual stream of church bombings as well as the kidnap and assassination of Christian leaders. On 29 February, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho (65) was leaving Mosul's Holy Spirit Cathedral after celebrating the Way of the Cross when his car was ambushed by terrorists. Archbishop Rahho was kidnapped while his driver and two bodyguards were shot and killed. A $1.8 million ransom has been demanded. Mosul is no longer a refuge for Assyrian Christians and a full-scale war looms. Iraq's Christians desperately need our prayers. (Psalm 118:8)

No comments: