Fatwa to stand up for Mosul’s Christians

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Religious Cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Nasseri on Wednesday issued a fatwa (religious decree) calling on Muslims to defend Christians who are subject to threats and acts of violence in Mosul city. “Iraqis who have the capacity should stand up for Christians in Mosul and in all Iraqi cities,” Nasseri, who is a prominent religious scholar, said in an exclusive statement to IraqiNews.com. Describing Christians as “brothers,” Nasseri said that it is the duty of everyone to protect them. Nasseri praised the Iraqi government for its ability to maintain high security levels in several Iraqi provinces, urging more efforts in “the rest of Iraqi cities.” The cleric accused interior and exterior bodies of being behind the recent anti-Christian attacks in the city of Mosul. Several Christian families have fled Mosul throughout the past few days, while an Iraqi security source said that four Christians were killed in two separate attacks in the city, signaling an increase in the wave of attacks against religious minorities in the northern volatile city. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. The original city of Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient biblical city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linking the two sides. Despite having an amount of Kurdish population, it does not form part of the area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG). There are different communities in Mosul like Christians, Shiites and Kurds along with a Sunni majority. The fabric Muslin, long manufactured in Mosul, is named for this city. Another historically important product of the area is Mosul marble. The city is also a historic center for the Nestorian Christianity of the Assyrians, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets such as Jonah, Yunus in Arabic, and Nahum. SS (S)/SR 1