Barzani urges Int’l community to support Kurdistan to host Christians

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani, called on International Community to support the region to refuge Christians, according to a presidential statement. “Barzani held on Thursday (Nov. 25) a meeting with British Minister of State for the Middle East Affairs, Ulster Bert, with whom he discussed fostering bilateral relations in various domains,” said the statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. Scores of Christian families rushed to Arbil from Baghdad and Mosul, escaping from armed groups, who killed and wounded dozens of them. number of Christian houses had been exposed to terrorist rockets and bomb attacks in different parts of Baghdad, causing several casualties and damaging the houses. The attacks followed an attack against the Lady of Salvation Church in west Baghdad’s Karrada District by a group of armed men, who took several worshipers hostage. Security forces were able to break into the Church, killing a number of armed men. The final toll from the attack reached 58 killed, including 5 of the attackers, 7 security men, while the remaining victims were church-goers. The number of wounded people had reached 75, including 15 army and police men. Al-Qaeda Organization had announced responsibility for the attack, threatening that Iraqi Christians would become targets for fresh attacks. SH (S) 1