"There are a lot of Wahhabis there now, watching us," Raad Toma said, referring to adherents of the puritan form of Islam preached by Osama bin Laden he said he had seen a wall poster in the neighborhood saying, "Killing of Christians and Jews is required as soon as possible."
Christians are believed to make up just 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people — most of them Catholics, Assyrians and Chaldeans, the denomination to which the Tomas belong. Officials estimate that as many as 15,000 Iraqi Christians have left the country since August, when four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul were attacked in coordinated car bombings. Twelve people died and 61 were wounded. Another church was bombed in Baghdad in September.
"Unfortunately, they've turned it into a war against the Crusaders and are taking it back to the Middle Ages," he said, adding that churches in Iraq haven't been attacked since the Mongols destroyed Baghdad in the 13th century.
Christians participated enthusiastically in Iraq's Jan. 30 election, and although mainstream Muslim leaders have denounced the attacks on them, Raad Toma expects the vote will result in "extremist Islamists" taking power. He says they have already infiltrated the Iraqi security forces and "they will come after us and will help the criminals." Link
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