Het Aramese bloed blijft vloeien in Irak: Twee Aramese broers gedood in Mosul

Sommige Arameeërs noemen zich in onze dagen "Assyriërs", dit vanwege de haatzaaiende geestelijke koloniale activiteiten van de Westerse missionarissen en diplomaten in het Midden-Oosten in de 16e en 19e eeuw. Andere Arameeërs zijn bekend geworden als "Chaldeeërs". Ze zijn echter allemaal Arameeërs. Overal waar U het woord "Assyriërs" tegenkomt dient U het als Arameeërs te lezen.

Het Aramese bloed blijft vloeien in Irak: Twee Aramese broers gedood in Mosul

Begrafenis dienst in Bagdad voor de slachtoffers van 31 oktober 2010

English Version

Op maandag 22 november zijn twee Aramese broers in Mosul door de terroristen vermoord. Het gaat om West- Aramese Syrisch Katholieke broers Saad Hanna, 43, en Waad Hanna, 40 jaar oud.

Het Aramese bloed in Irak blijft onverminderd vloeien. Niemand schijnt in staat om dit te stoppen. De Arameeërs beschouwen niemand als hun vijand en willen graag in vrede met andere volkeren leven. De terroristen hebben hieraan geen boodschap. Ze willen Irak zuiveren van de Aramese Christelijke bevolking.

De Arameeërs zijn het inheemse bevolking van Irak en leven sinds duizenden jaren in dit deel van de wereld. Door de inval van de Amerikanen in 2003 in Irak, worden de Arameeërs bedreigd met uitroeiing. De Arameeërs hebben geen eigen militie om zich te verdedigen. Ze zijn aangewezen op de bescherming van de centrale overheid. Deze is niet toereikend waardoor de terroristen erin slagen de Aramese bevolking te vermoorden.

De Arameeërs bestaan uit diverse denominaties en zijn vooral geconcentreerd in Bagdad en het noorden van Irak. Er wordt geschat dat er rond 300.000-400.000 Arameeërs nog in Irak zijn.

Zondag 31-10-2010:

Priester Wassim Sabih Yousuf Khroom

Priester Thaer Saad’ila Boutros

Op 31 Oktober 2010 vielen de terroristen de Aramese Katholieke kerk in Bagdad binnen en doodden na gevechten met de veiligheidstroepen meer dan 52 Aramese mannen, vrouwen en kinderen. Onder de vermoorde Arameeërs waren de twee priesters van de kerk, Sabih Yousuf Khroom en Thaer Saad'ila Boutros. De dodental is inmiddels opgelopen tot 68 mensen.

Terroristen richten ravage aan in de Aramese kerk in Bagdad.

==========Overal bloedvlekken========

=============Interieur kerk========

=============Buitenkant kerk========

Woensdag 10-11-2010: 5 Arameeërs werden in Bagdad gedood door autobommen en mortier granaten.

Dinsdag 16-11-2010: Een Aramese christen en z’n 6 jarige dochter komen om bij een bomaanslag in Mosul.

Maandag 15-11-2010: Terroristen vallen twee Aramese Christelijke huizen binnen in Mosul en doden twee mensen.

Maandag 22-11-2010: Terroristen vermoorden twee Aramese broers in Mosul.

De Islamitische Staat van Irak heeft alle Christenen vogelvrij verklaard met woorden, ““All Christian centers, organizations and institutions, leaders and followers, are legitimate targets for the mujahideen [holy warriors]”

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/1103/Al-Qaeda-ally-in-Iraq-says-all-Christians-legitimate-targets

Het lijkt inderdaad erop dat de Islamitische terroristen hun dreigementen verwezenlijken. En daar lijken ze vooral te hebben gemunt op het vergieten van het Aramese bloed.

Waarom O waarom?

Waarom gebeurt dit toch met ons? Waarom wordt ons volk gediscrimineerd, gedood en uit de inheemse gebieden van z’n voorvaderen weggejaagd? Waarom O waarom?

Waarom heeft de Here God de vreselijke gebeurtenissen van de Aramese Katholieke Kerk in Bagdad op 31 oktober 2010 toegelaten? Waarom heeft de Here God dit niet tegengehouden?

Waarom heeft de Here God geen actie ondernomen tegen de genocide van 1914?

Waarom laat de Heer het verkrachten van onze moeders en dochters en het vermoorden van onze jonge zonen toe? Wat is de redden voor ons Diaspora? Waarom laat de Here God de rechtzaken tegen het Aramese klooster St. Gabriel in Turkije sinds 2008 toe? Wat is er aan de hand?

Is onze God een zwakke God die niet in staat is om Satan te verslaan?

Of.... of.... is er iets anders aan de hand?

Geachte lezer van Aram-Nahrin, om dit probleem te begrijpen, lees alstublieft aandachtig deze documenten door:

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Mosul_Aramese_Srebrinica_24_10_2008.htm#4

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Turken_Koerden_Klooster_St_Gabriel_21_2_2009.htm#6

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Verheerlijking_PKK_GHB_ADO_Terrorist_19_6_2010.htm#5_1

Moraal van het verhaal: Niets gebeurt zonder reden!

**************************************************************************

=======Arameeërs van Irak======

Voor de oorlog van 2003 waren er rond 800.000 Arameeërs in Irak. Vermoedt wordt dat er meer dan de helft Irak heeft verlaten. De aanslagen op hun kerken en leiders hebben het Aramese volk het land uitgejaagd. We noemen paar voorbeelden:

	1. West- Aramese Syrisch Orthodoxe priester Paulus Iskandar van St. Afrem Kerk in Mosul werd vermoord op 12-10-2006
	2. De West- Arameeër Isho Majeed Hadaya werd vermoord op 22-11-2006 in Baghdeda (Qaraqosh).
	3. De Oost- Aramese Priester Ragied Aziz Gannie werd op 3-6-2007 vermoord samen met drie diakenen in Mosul.
	4. De Oost-Aramese Chaldese bisschop van Mosul, Mgr. Paulus Faraj Raho werd ontvoerd op 29-2-2008 en zijn lichaam werd gevonden op 13-3-2008 werd hij gevonden in een graf in Mosul.
	5. Op 5-4-2008 werd de West- Aramese Syrisch Orthodoxe priester Yusuf Adel Abudi vermoord in Baghdad.

In Irak zijn de volgende Aramese denominaties

De West- Aramese Syrisch Orthodox
De West- Aramese Syrisch Katholieken
De West- Aramese Melkiten
De Oost- Aramese Nestoriaanse Chaldeeërs
De Oost-Aramese Nestoriaanse Assyriërs die op hun beurt weer zijn gesplitst in: De Assyrische Katholieke kerk van het Oosten (Sinds 1976, de term “Katholiek” heeft hier geen relatie met Rome) en de Oude Kerk van het Oosten (sinds 1968).

De termen “Oost-“ en “West- Arameeërs” gaan terug tot de tijd van het vroegere christendom waar de Aramese inheemse natie geografisch werd aangeduid zulks. Ruwweg vormde de Rivier de Eufraat de grens. Diegenen die ten oosten van Eufraat woonden, dus in Perzië, werden aangeduid als “Oost- Arameeërs” en diegenen die ten Westen van Eufraat woonden, dus in het Romeinse Rijk, werden genoemd de “West- Arameeërs”.

De aanduiding “Chaldeeërs” en “Assyriërs” voor de Oosterse Arameeërs gaat terug naar de Westerse Koloniale activiteiten in de 16^e eeuw (Frankrijk + Katholieke missionarissen) en 19^e eeuw (Groot-Brittannië + Anglicaanse missionarissen). De kerkelijke en politieke Westerse machten werkten nauw samen met elkaar en hebben kampen opgezet in Turkije, Irak en Iran waar de Aramese kinderen werden “opgevoed” waardoor zij compleet werden ontworteld van hun Aramese oorsprong. Ze plantten daarbij een afschuwelijke vorm van fanatisme in hun harten dat voor een immense afkeer zorgde van hun Aramese oorsprong.

In het jaar 1553 hersenspoelden de Westerse Katholieke missionarissen, samen met Frankrijk een deel van de Oost- Aramese geestelijken, doormiddel van omkoping en chantage om zichzelf “Chaldeeërs” te noemen met het resultaat dat de Aramese taal bekend raakte als “Chaldese’ taal en een deel van de Aramese natie bekend raakte als “Chaldese” natie in sommige delen van de Westerse literatuur, de eerste aanval op de Aramese erfgoed.

Vanwege de onderlinge haat en competitie tussen de Westerse Katholieken en Protestanten, werd hetzelfde proces herhaald in de late 19^e eeuw, dit maal door de Anglicaanse missionarissen en Groot-Brittannië, en het andere deel van de Oost- Aramese “Nestoriaanse” stammen van Hakkaria (grens Turkije en Irak) en Urmia (Iran) om zichzelf “Assyriërs” te noemen- een term dat (toen) werd gebruikt puur geografisch en alleen toegepast op de “Nestorianen”. Het resultaat was dat het Aramees bekend raakte als “Assyrische” taal en de Aramese natie als “Assyrische” natie- dit was de tweede en meer ernstige aanval op de Aramese erfgoed – een soort geestelijke genocide

Aanverwante artikelen Arameeërs Irak:

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Arameeers_Irak_Dramatische_Oproep_Bisschop_11_11_2010.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Arameeers_Irak_Aanval_Kerk_1_11_2010.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.info/Dutch/Arameeers_Irak_Sandy_Shabib_Hadi_Zahra_14_5_2010.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.info/Dutch/Arameeers_Mosul_Moorden_NieuwExodus_26_2_2010.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.info/Dutch/Arameeers-Mosul_Vermoord_18_2_2010.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.info/Dutch/President_Irak_Oproep_VN_26_10_2009.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.info/Dutch/Groot-Israel-Arameeers_Irak_EtnischZuivering_28_8_2009.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.info/Dutch/Aramese_Kerken_Bagdad_Bomaanslag_13_7_2009.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Aramese_Bloed_BlijftVloeien_In_Irak_4_5_2009.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Arameers_Eenheid_Kolonialisme_5_10_2009.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Aanslagen_ArameseKerken_Irak_7_1_2008.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Mosul_Aramese_Srebrinica_24_10_2008.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Wonderen_In_Irak_9_4_2008.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Arameeers_Vermoord_Mosul_2_9_2008.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Arameeers_Irak_moord_Mosul_Qaraqosh_15_11_2008.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/ArameseOrganisaties_Verzoek_VN_Irak_31_10_2008.htm

http://www.iraqichristians.org/Dutch/Moorden_Etnische_Zuivering_Arameeers_Irak_13_10_2008.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/ExpertMechanism_2009.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Arameeers_In_De_Media_Desinformatie.htm

http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Aramese_Geestelijke_genocide.htm

**********Articles in the media*************

Police: 2 Christian brothers shot, killed in Iraq

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Hamid Ahmed, Associated Press – Mon Nov 22, 8:41 am ET

BAGHDAD – Gunmen shot and killed two Christian brothers Monday in a northern Iraqi city in the latest in a spate of attacks targeting the religious minority, Iraqi police said.

Christians have been fleeing Iraq amid a series of attacks against them by militants who have vowed a campaign of violence against the country's Christian minority.

In the most serious attack, 68 people died after a group of militants with explosives strapped to their bodies held about 120 people hostage in a Baghdad church last month before Iraqi authorities stormed the building.

Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) north of Baghdad is home to a sizable Christian population that has repeatedly come under attack from Sunni militants who view Christians as nonbelievers.

Brothers Saad and Raad Hannah were working in their auto mechanic shop in Mosul when gunmen burst in and shot them dead before fleeing, police said. A local hospital worker confirmed the deaths. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Last week, two Christians in Mosul were sitting in their living room when gunmen burst into the house and shot them. That same night a house belonging to a Christian family in a different neighborhood of the city was also bombed, although no one was killed in that incident.

Earlier this month, five people were killed during a series of coordinated bombings targeting Christian homes and neighborhoods in Baghdad. Those attacks came after Iraqi authorities beefed up security at churches across Baghdad in response to the hostage crisis.

The attacks against Christians have drawn international condemnation, and some countries in Europe have flown Christians wounded in the church attack out of Iraq for medical treatment. But Iraqi church officials have also pleaded with the Christian minority to not be driven out of their homeland.

Two Christian brothers killed by unknown gunmen west of Mosul city

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/3/196896/

Monday, November 22nd 2010 1:46 PM

Nineveh, Nov. 22 (AKnews) - A source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, stated on Monday, that two Christian brothers were killed by unidentified gunmen, west of Mosul, the incident that shows the continuation of the attacks against Christians in the country after the incident of the Sayida al-Najat (Lady Salvation) Church.

The source who preferred to remain unknown told AKnews, that the unknown gunmen shot dead the two brothers in the Wadi Keaab neighborhood, while they were heading to work, security forces cordoned off the area while the gunmen fled to an unknown destination.

The incident comes about a week after the killing of the other two Christians in Mosul, when an armed group stormed into a house in al-Zahraa area, and shot dead the house owner and his neighbor.

The Lady Salvation church at the center of Baghdad was attacked last month where tens of civilians were killed and wounded, in addition to eight of the nine militants that controlled the church, while the last one blew himself ou,t when the security forces stormed the church.

Al-Qaeda threatened the Christians of an opened war, prompting many Christian families to leave their homes and move towards the Kurdistan Region provinces, in fear of being targeted.

Reported by Rizan Ahmed and Alaa Mouhammed

Rn/Ak/AKnews

Two Christian brothers killed in Mosul

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Two-Christian-brothers-killed-in-Mosul-20061.html

11/22/2010 15:23

Iraq’s Christian community comes under attack, again. Gunmen shoot and kill two shop owners in cold blood. Iraqi Christians issue an appeal: “Pray for us persecuted Christians”.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) – Anti-Christian violence and persecution continue in Iraq. Two days after a Christian home was attacked in Mosul (northern Iraq), two Iraqi Christians were killed in the city’s Sina’a neighbourhood.

Sources told AsiaNews that unknown thugs entered a store owned by two Christian brothers, Saad and Waad (Raad) Hanna, 43 and 40 respectively, and shot them in cold blood. Waad died instantly, Saad, two hours later.

This is the latest incident in a surge in violence that has hit the Christian community hard in the past few weeks. The bloodiest episode occurred on 31 October when an al-Qaeda affiliated commando stormed the Syriac-Catholic cathedral of Baghdad during Mass. Almost 60 people were killed, including 44 worshippers and 2 religious. For al-Qaeda, Christians are “legitimate targets”.

In view of the latest act of barbarism against them, local Christians have issued a new appeal: “Pray for us persecuted Christians”. (LYR)

Deadly attacks on Iraqi Christians continue

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/22/iraq.christians.targeted/index.html?iref=allsearch

November 22, 2010 -- Updated 1611 GMT (0011 HKT)

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Three people were killed Monday in Iraq in the latest attack targeting Christians, police in the city of Mosul said.

In one attack, two Christian brothers were killed in Mosul when gunmen broke into their workplace in an industrial part of the city and shot them. The brothers were welders who owned the shop.

On Monday evening, police found an elderly Christian woman strangled in her home in central Mosul.

The attacks on Christians started October 31 in Baghdad have extended to the northern parts of the country, such as Mosul.

Last week, a bomb attached to the vehicle of a Christian man detonated in eastern Mosul, killing him and his 6-year-old daughter, local police told CNN.

The November 16 attack came one day after two Christian men in adjacent homes were killed after gunmen stormed their houses.

Also on November 15, a bomb detonated outside a Christian home. It caused damages but no injuries.

Iraq's Christian community, which numbered 1.4 million in 2003, is estimated to have dwindled to 500,000 as many have left the country, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has said.

The commission, a U.S. government agency that listed the numbers in its 2010 report, said Christian leaders are warning that this decline could signal "the end of Christianity in Iraq."

For Iraqi Christians, fear is knocking

By Joe Sterling and Jomana Karadsheh, CNN

November 16, 2010 -- Updated 2139 GMT (0539 HKT)

(CNN) -- She lives in a paralyzing state of "constant and fear" and it's forcing her to keep her children indoors and out of school.

That's how one Baghdad woman describes the dire predicament faced by her and other Iraqi Christians, a dwindling community that is enduring another string of anti-Christian sectarian assaults in Baghdad and in Mosul.

The woman, who didn't want to be identified because of fear for her life, said security hasn't been beefed up since the assaults began on October 31, when the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral, or Our Lady of Salvation Church, was attacked.

"We only have God," said the woman, who lost a family member in the church attack. "God is the only one watching over us."

Her words reflect the fears across the world of the ancient Iraqi Christian community, a people that numbered 1.4 million people in 2003, before the war in Iraq, and is estimated to now be only 500,000, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said.

USCIRF, a U.S. government agency that listed the numbers in its 2010 report, said Christian leaders are warning that the result of this decline could signal "the end of Christianity in Iraq."

In a country of more than 29 million people, Christians and other minorities are relative specks in a population where 97 percent are Muslim -- 60 to 65 percent Shiite and 32 to 37 percent Sunni, the CIA World Factbook said.

As sectarian violence raged during the war, Iraqis of all religions have fled for other countries. But a disproportionate number of Christians have landed in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, the three main countries of refuge.

Sybella Wilkes, a spokeswoman at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said the overall Christian population in Iraq is 1 1/2 to 2 percent. But, she said, the number of Christians registered in those three countries are 11 to 15 percent of the overall population of Iraqi refugees.

The UNHCR says on its website that the total number of Iraqi refugees in the world stood at nearly 1.78 million in January.

David Nona, chairman of the Chaldean Federation of America, says the news is "getting worse" and he is hearing and reading about a siege mentality among his fellow Christians in Iraq -- not going outside and not opening the door for people, for example.

"People are truly terrified," said Nona, whose Chaldean community in the Detroit area -- about 140,000 or so people -- has hosted an influx of about 25,000 Chaldo-Assyrians over the past three years.

Nona said many people who have been able to flee over the years have had the wherewithal to do so and those who remain might not have the means and connections to get out. The people there not only live in fear, but they can't work or send their children to school. And people of marrying age can't find partners.

There have been proposals for special regions for minorities, such as an autonomous region in the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq, where many Christians live. The three-province Kurdish regional government has welcomed Christians.

But for many, Nona says, there's "no hope."

"It is very ironic that the last legacy of this war in Iraq, which was intended to change hearts and minds in the Arab and Islamic world toward the West is bringing about the extinction of one of the oldest Christian communities in the world," he said.

"Right now, we are facing an existential problem."

Nona believes that the political stalemate in Iraq since elections in March has affected the sectarian violence. Kurds, Shiite and Sunni Arab lawmakers have been working to salvage a power-sharing agreement and a new government is in the process of formation.

"Right now, the fact is, there has not been a government. There is no control. There is no security. Americans are leaving. The terrorists want to remind the government and the world that the situation is not as secure as the administration and media would like it to be," he said.

"A lot of people think the Iraq war has been won and we have won," he said. "That's the farthest from the truth."

The Islamic State of Iraq, suspected of ties to al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the church attack, and many religious, ethnic and political factors could be at play in the violence.

Anti-Christian sentiment has flared up amid the sectarian hatreds in Iraq. Christians, who have interacted well with Muslims in years past, have been seen as pro-Western and their businesses, such as liquor stores, had to be closed.

Like many in the Iraqi Christian diaspora, Waiel Hindo, director of administration and finance in IT services at the University of Chicago, follows the developments about his fellow Christians in Iraq.

He said the minute he heard the news, he thought that militants possibly could have been reacting to the Quran-burning threat by a pastor in Florida.

That threat was called off in September, but it inflamed many people in the Muslim world.

"Anytime someone insults one religion, the other religion retaliates," Hindo said.

Nona believes security forces guarding the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral may have played a role in allowing the attack since many checkpoints were set up at the church. Hindo believes security was relaxed.

"Not in my wildest dreams did I think they were going to go to that church," said Hindo, who noted that churches are many times soft targets and Christians don't carry guns. Nona pointed out that Christians don't have militias as Muslim groups do.

The attacks that started in Baghdad have spread to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in Nineveh province. In the latest attack, police said, a bomb attached to a vehicle killed a man and his 6-year-old daughter in Mosul on Tuesday.

This posed a problem for the Baghdad woman living in fear. She wanted to go to Mosul where her sister lives.

But her sister called, told her about the latest attacks targeting the community, and advised her not to come.

Christian man, daughter killed in bombing in Iraq

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/16/iraq.christians.targeted/index.html?iref=allsearch

From Jomana Karadsheh, CNN

November 17, 2010 -- Updated 0313 GMT (1113 HKT)

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- A bombing in northern Iraq killed a Christian man and his 6-year-old daughter Tuesday, the latest in a series of strikes targeting the country's dwindling Christian population.

The incident occurred in Mosul, a multi-ethnic city in Nineveh province -- long the home of significant Christian enclaves.

A flurry of attacks in the north over the last 24 hours is a sign that the recent sectarian violence targeting Christians is spreading from Baghdad.

The man and his daughter were killed Tuesday afternoon when an explosive attached to a vehicle detonated, local police said.

Monday night, attackers went into two homes occupied by Christian families in the Tahrir neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, killed the two male heads of the households, and then drove off, the interior ministry official said.

In central Mosul, at about the same time, a bomb detonated outside a Christian's home. No one was hurt in that blast, which damaged the home's exterior.

Attacks in October 2008 on Christians in Mosul prompted a mass exodus from that city of 1.8 million people.

Many Christian families in Iraq who spoke to CNN said they feared for their safety and wanted to leave the country, but didn't have the means to do so.

Christians have endured a spurt of attacks in Baghdad since October 31, when militants attacked the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral, leaving 70 people dead and 75 wounded, including 51 congregants and two priests. The Islamic State of Iraq, a militant group, claimed responsibility.

On November 9 and 10, at least three people were killed and 28 wounded in attacks targeting Christians in Baghdad.

The violence led the United States, the United Nations Security Council and an American Catholic archbishop to express concerns for Christians and other religious groups in Iraq.

Cardinal Emmanuel Delly III -- the patriarch of Iraq's largest Christian community, the Chaldean Catholic Church -- urged Iraqi Christians in a televised address Thursday to "stand firm" in their country during these "difficult times."

Christians are among the religious minorities in a country dominated by Sunnis and Shiites.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom urged American officials to make a special effort to protect religious minorities in Iraq, such as Christians, Yazidis and Mandaeans.

"Given the United States' continued military presence there, we urge the administration to work with the Iraqi government to proactively heighten security at Christian and other minority religious sites.

"The United States also should press its allies in the region to be increasingly vigilant of the threats by extremists targeting religious minority communities and work together to reduce these threats, in order to secure their well being and help prevent the continued exodus of Christians and other minorities from the Middle East," said USCIRF chairman Leonard Leo.

Christian brothers shot dead in north Iraq

http://www.france24.com/en/20101122-christian-brothers-shot-dead-north-iraq

22 November 2010 - 13H39

AFP - Two Iraqi Christian brothers were gunned down inside their vehicle workshop in the restive northern city of Mosul on Monday, police said.

Saad Hanna, 43, and Waad Hanna, 40, were shot dead at around noon (0900 GMT) in the city, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Baghdad, the latest in a spate of attacks targeting the minority community in Iraq.

"Two Syrian Catholic Christians were killed inside their workshop in an industrial area in west Mosul," said police Major Fathi Abdulrazzaq.

Earlier this month, a series of bomb and mortar attacks targeted the homes and businesses of Christians in the capital Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 33 and drawing international condemnation.

Those attacks came less than two weeks after 44 Christian worshippers, two priests and seven security personnel died in the seizure of a Baghdad cathedral by Islamist gunmen and the ensuing shootout when it was stormed by troops.

On November 3, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking at the Syrian Catholic cathedral and warned it would step up attacks on Christians.

Between 800,000 and 1.2 million Christians lived in Iraq before the US-led invasion of 2003 but that number has since shrunk to around 500,000 in the face of repeated attacks against their community and churches.

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday spoke of his sense of solidarity towards Iraq's beleaguered Christian community, while issuing an appeal for religious freedom worldwide.

"Religious communities in Italy are praying today, at the request of their bishops, for the Christians who are suffering from persecution and discrimination, notably in Iraq," the pope said during his weekly Angelus prayer in St Peter's square.

Gunmen storm Christians' homes in northern Iraq, killing two

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/15/iraq.violence/index.html?iref=allsearch

By Jomana Karadsheh, CNN

November 16, 2010 -- Updated 0653 GMT (1453 HKT)

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen stormed two adjacent homes in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul late Monday and shot dead two men, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Christians, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

Around the country Monday, at least seven Iraqis were killed and dozens wounded in attacks, according to the official. Some of the worst violence occurred in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city located about 261 miles (420 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

On Monday night, attackers went into two homes occupied by Christian families in the al-Tahrir neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, killed the two male heads of the households, then drove off, the interior ministry official said.

In central Mosul, about the same time, a bomb detonated outside a Christian's home. No one was hurt in that blast, which damaged the house's exterior.

At least three people were killed and 28 wounded November 9 and 10 in attacks targeting Christians, including bombings outside Christians' homes in western Baghdad, an Iraqi interior ministry official told CNN. Also, a group called the Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the October 31 siege of the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral that left 70 people dead and 75 wounded, including 51 congregants and two priests.

That violence led the United States, the U.N. Security Council and an American Catholic archbishop to express concerns for Christians and other religious groups in Iraq.

Attacks in October 2008 on Christians in Mosul prompted a mass exodus from that city of 1.8 million. Many Christian families in Iraq who spoke to CNN said they feared for their safety and wanted to leave the country, but didn't have the means to do so.

Cardinal Emmanuel Delly III -- the patriarch of Iraq's largest Christian community, the Chaldean Catholic Church -- urged Iraqi Christians in a televised address on Thursday to "stand firm" in their country during these "difficult times."

Other attacks Monday targeted government authorities. That included another in Mosul, in which two parked car bombs detonated nearly simultaneously outside a complex that mainly houses prison guards. At least two people -- the prison's commander and one guard -- died in that explosion and another 20 were wounded, the official said.

Police officials in Mosul said the bombing took place around noon in the town of Badoush, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of Mosul. Local officials said the cars containing the bombs were parked inside the compound when they detonated.

The complex is about two-thirds of a mile (1 kilometer) from Badoush Prison, which is one of Iraq's main prisons and holds detainees from across the country, including suspected al Qaeda members. The attack came one day after a suicide car bombing killed at least two Iraqi soldiers in Mosul.

In Western Iraq's al-Anbar province, at least two civilian were killed and four others wounded in three roadside bomb attacks in two towns, according to provincial security officials.

In the first attack, in the town of al-Qaim, west of Ramadi, a roadside bomb detonated near a hospital, killing one civilian.

Also in al-Qaim, a roadside bombing targeting Iraqi police killed a factory guard.

In al-Karmah, east of Falluja, a roadside bomb detonated at a police checkpoint, wounding at least four civilians.

In Baghdad, two roadside bomb attacks Monday morning left at least one Iraqi police officer dead and seven other people wounded, the Interior Ministry official said.

The officer was killed when a bomb detonated at a checkpoint in eastern Baghdad. A second policeman and a civilian were wounded in the bombing.

In central Baghdad, a roadside bomb struck a police patrol, wounding at least two officers and three civilian bystanders.

Also in the capital, at least three rockets struck the heavily fortified International Zone, formerly known as the Green Zone, on Sunday evening, the official said.

There were no reports of casualties or damages in the International Zone, which houses the Iraqi government headquarters, the U.S. Embassy and other foreign missions.

Over the past week, the International Zone has come under rocket or mortar attacks almost daily.

While overall violence across the country has dropped compared to the height of the sectarian war in 2006 and 2007, there has been an uptick in attacks since Iraq's national elections in March.

Incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is expected to form his new Cabinet and present it for a parliamentary vote of confidence late next month.

In a press briefing Saturday, the top U.S. commander in Iraq acknowledged the increase in violence and attributed it to the political situation.

"Recently we have seen a rise in security incidents," Gen. Lloyd Austin III told reporters in Baghdad. "We knew that as we approach government formation we would see an increase in activity. We also knew that based upon the way that we template al Qaeda's action here, we were clearly in the window of some further action by al Qaeda. So it came as no surprise to us."

Al Qaeda still has the capability to undertake attacks and finance their operations, the general said.

"We've taken out a number of mid- to senior-grade leaders out of the network over time, but they've always had an impressive ability to regenerate capability here," Austin said.

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Zie meer over de Arameeërs van Syrië: http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/Arameeers_Van_Syrie.htm

Arameeërs van Irak: http://www.aramnahrin.org/Dutch/ChristenenVanIrak.htm

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