Space Travel News  
IRAQ WARS
Iraqi Christians worship again in massacre cathedral

Church leader urges Christians to quit Iraq
London (AFP) Nov 7, 2010 - Iraq's Christians should leave the country or face being killed at the hands of Al-Qaeda, an Iraqi Christian leader insisted here on Sunday. "If they stay they will be finished, one by one," Archbishop Athanasios Dawood told the BBC in an interview after reportedly making a similar appeal at the Syrian Orthodox Church in London. Al-Qaeda last week warned that Christians everywhere were "legitimate targets" in the wake of a recent bloodbath at a Baghdad church.

The group had already said its gunmen were behind a hostage-taking at a Baghdad cathedral a week ago that ended in the deaths of 46 worshippers, including two priests. "Our people now in Iraq, they are living in danger. No protection, no support, nobody looks after them," London-based Dawood told the BBC. "Which is better for us. To stay and be killed or emigrate to another place and to live in peace?" Dawood appealed to EU countries to grant asylum to Iraqi Christians. "The Christians know they don't have any place in their country. We need their support."

First Baghdad church wounded due in France Monday: minister
Paris (AFP) Nov 7, 2010 - A first batch of 36 Iraqis wounded in a deadly Al-Qaeda hostage crisis in a Baghdad church were due to arrive in France on Monday, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said. France said it would help the most seriously wounded, all but two of whom are Christians, soon after last Sunday's shoot-out, when Iraqi and US security forces stormed a Syriac Catholic cathedral during mass. Their arrival, said Besson, fits into France's "tradition of asylum" said Besson told reporters Sunday. "France is the leading land for asylum in Europe and the world's second behind the United States," he added.

"We are the European country that receives the most refugees who have been persecuted because of their political opinions, their religion or the colour of their skin." France announced it was ready to take in 150 Iraqis, with the priority going to those wounded in the attack and their families, shortly after the bloodbath, in which 46 hostages including two priests were killed. A second group of 93 is expected to arrive "in the coming weeks," Besson said, with the list still being drafted. Al-Qaeda has declared Christians everywhere "legitimate targets" in the wake of the bloodshed at the Baghdad church.
by Staff Writers
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 7, 2010
Iraqi Christians on Sunday reaffirmed their faith in the face of Al-Qaeda, as 200 people celebrated mass in a bloodstained Baghdad cathedral where militants massacred 46 worshippers a week ago.

"The church is built on the love, the peace and the blood of the martyrs, not on the sword," Father Mukhlas Habash told parishioners gathered around a cross of burning candles, traced out on the floor of an otherwise bare nave.

The candles illuminated pieces of paper with the names of the 44 worshippers and two priests who were killed last Sunday after Al-Qaeda gunmen stormed the Syriac Christian cathedral in the heart of Baghdad and seized hostages.

By the time the drama ended after Iraqi forces raided the building, dozens of people had died, including Taher and Wassim, two priests who heroically tried to plead with the gunmen to spare the lives of their flock.

"Today we will pray for those who attacked us, attacked our church and killed fathers Taher and Wassim," Habash said in a homily given at about the same time the Sayidat al-Nejat cathedral was attacked seven days previously.

Images of the dead were to be seen everywhere on Sunday, on posters on bloodstained and bullet-pocked walls, by the candles and on laminated photos passed out among the faithful.

Along the length and on both sides of the candle-lit cross stood worshippers, among them wounded survivors, holding candles as a passing priest blessed them with incense.

The marks of the carnage were everywhere, on bullet-holed walls, chipped and broken woodwork, and cracked marble of some of the pillars. From the cupola, a disfigured fresco of the Virgin Mary looked down.

Following the attack the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), an Al-Qaeda affiliate, claimed responsibility in a statement that also said Christians everywhere were henceforth "legitimate targets."

But on Sunday Father Habash sought to reassure his flock.

"Jesus said do not have fear," he told the congregation.

In the chancel, portraits of the victims lay amid a mountain of bouquets at the foot of a large wooden cross.

Some of the faithful said they would not have missed this first mass since the deadly events of a week ago for all the world. The service was celebrated under tight security.

"It is a question of honour. We come here with the strength of our faith. The great message of Jesus Christ is not to hate our enemies," said Salem Ablahad, 47, a woodworker who was related to Taher, one of the dead priests.

Outside the cathedral gate Ikhlas Yussef said with a smile that she was happy to be there, and that the attacks would not scare Christians out of Iraq.

"To celebrate mass here today was important because we want to prove to the terrorists that no one will leave," said Yussef, 47, dressed entirely in black.

"Yes, I am very happy. This is like a shot in the hearts of the terrorists."

After the attack, one of worst targeting Iraqi Christians, many faithful said they would flee the country, like the two-thirds of the 450,000 Christians who lived in the capital before the 2003 US-led invasion.

"If people had said they wanted to leave, it was because they were in panic. But they will not do it," said Tony Boulas, a 45-year-old tradesman.

"We will not leave because we were the first here," he said in a reference to pre-Islamic Iraq.

In Britain on Sunday, however, an Iraqi Christian leader said Christians should leave Iraq or face being killed by Al-Qaeda.

"If they stay they will be finished, one by one," London-based Archbishop Athanasios Dawood told the BBC in an interview.

"Which is better for us? To stay and be killed or emigrate to another place and to live in peace?"



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


IRAQ WARS
US commander says Qaeda still a threat in Iraq
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 6, 2010
A senior US commander said on Saturday that Al-Qaeda's ability to infiltrate foreign fighters into Iraq had been severely restricted, but that it was still a threat and would remain so. Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan said that a deadly attack in Baghdad targeting Christians and explosions in Shiite neighbourhoods across the capital over the past week demonstrated that Al-Qaeda remained d ... read more







IRAQ WARS
Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne Engine Helps Boost 350th Launch Of A Delta Vehicle

India Plans Two Rocket Launches Next Month

Azerbaijan signs deal with Arianespace to launch satellite

Boeing Launches Fourth Earth-Observation Satellite For Italy

IRAQ WARS
Function Analysis Drives The Development Of A Concept Mars Rover

Mars Rovers Mission Using Cloud Computing

Mars Volcanic Deposit Tells Of Warm And Wet Environment

Opportunity Keeps On Driving To Endeavour Crater

IRAQ WARS
New type of moon rock identified

Moon Express Enters $30 Million Google Lunar X PRIZE Competition

Dead Spacecraft Walking

Surviving Lunar Dangers

IRAQ WARS
Kuiper Belt Of Many Colors

Reaching The Mid-Mission Milestone On The Way To Pluto

New Horizons Student Dust Counter Instrument Breaks Distance Record

Nitrogen Methane Dominate Icy Surface Of Eris

IRAQ WARS
e2v To Develop Image Sensors For PLATO Exoplanet Mission

Solar Systems Like Ours May Be Common

Astronomer Greg Laughlin To Talk About Earth-Like Planets

NASA Survey Suggests Earth-Sized Planets are Common

IRAQ WARS
Acceptance Testing On Second R-4D Development Engine Completed

Witch's Brew Aids J-2X Engine Hardware Assembly

Initial 30-Day Findings From DM-2 Rocket Engine Program

Commercial spacecraft launch test delayed

IRAQ WARS
China launching spacecraft at record rate

China Goes To Mars

China says manned space station possible around 2020

China Kicks Off Manned Space Station Program

IRAQ WARS
Flight Of The Comet

Flyby Observations To Offer Insight On Comet Nucleus

Odin Satellite Observes Water In Comet 103P Hartley 2

Ball Aerospace Built EPOXI Spacecraft Images Comet Hartley 2


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement