Defense minister says Christians face organized threat

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader al-Ubeidi said on Thursday that what happened to Christians is an organized threat, noting that crimes were perpetrated against them which forced them to leave their houses in Ninewa. Al-Ubeidi told IraqiNews.com he held a meeting with Christian families, during which it became clear there were organized threat against them, which forced them to leave Ninewa. “The situation in al-Sukar neighborhood in northern Ninewa is good and some families contacted us to return but we asked them to wait,” he added. 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. SH (S) 1