Christians murdered in Mosul

"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."

Violence in Iraq may continue despite power sharing agreement

'Mr. Allawi, a secular Shiite, told CNN on Friday that “Iraqiya is not going to be part, and I am definitely not going to be part, of this government.” He also said the country would probably see more “tensions and violence, probably.”

...The senior American military commander in Iraq, Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, reiterated American support for the agreement, expressing concern that failure to be inclusive could inflame tensions and fuel further violence.

“If the people don’t consider it to be an inclusive government, there might be some people in the community who express their displeasure in the form of violence,” he told reporters at his headquarters beside Baghdad’s international airport.

“Having said that, what we’re seeing early on is some pretty good signs the leadership intends to in fact form an inclusive government,” he said. “They’ve been wrestling with some difficult issues for eight months now.”

In the wake of a series of attacks by Al Qaeda and other insurgents that killed more than 100 people, General Austin warned that more violence was likely as Mr. Maliki cobbles together a cabinet. “We can expect there will be some turbulence between now and when the government is finally formed,” he said.

Asked about Mr. Allawi’s remarks that a withdrawal by Iraqiya could result in violence, he added: “There’s always that possibility, and are we concerned about it? Yeah, we remain concerned about it — not only during this time, but during any point in time throughout the year. Certainly, things are a little bit more sensitive about it during this time period because people are very anxious about how this is going to turn out.” '

Jailed for "insulting the divine essence"

'QALQILIYA, West Bank — A mysterious blogger who set off an uproar in the Arab world by claiming he was God and hurling insults at the Prophet Muhammad is now behind bars — caught in a sting that used Facebook to track him down.

The case of the unlikely apostate, a shy barber from this backwater West Bank town, is highlighting the limits of tolerance in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority — and illustrating a new trend by authorities in the Arab world to mine social media for evidence.
Residents of Qalqiliya say they had no idea that Walid Husayin — the 26-year-old son of a Muslim scholar — was leading a double life.

Known as a quiet man who prayed with his family each Friday and spent his evenings working in his father's barbershop, Husayin was secretly [posting] his anti-religious opinions on the Internet during his free time.

The media in the Palestinian Authority, as in the Arab world in general, are largely government-controlled, driving dissenting voices to the relative freedom of the Internet. The blogger's arrest showed a willingness on the part of the Palestinian government to clamp down on freedom of speech on the Web as well. He now faces a potential life prison sentence on heresy charges for "insulting the divine essence."

Many in this conservative Muslim town say that isn't enough, and suggested he should be killed for renouncing Islam. Even family members say he should remain behind bars for life.
"He should be burned to death," said Abdul-Latif Dahoud, a 35-year-old Qalqiliya resident. The execution should take place in public "to be an example to others," he added.'

Christianity older than Iraq and Islam

"Christians have been living in Iraq since long before it was called Iraq and centuries before Mohammed was born. Ancient Assyrians converted to Christianity during the first century A.D.

Back then, Iraq was part of what was known as Mesopotamia and it would not be until the eighth century A.D. that Islam arrived. Even today, tombs of Old Testament Jewish prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel dot Iraq."

Mass exodus of Christians would hurt Iraq's development

'On the street, suspicions abound among Muslims as to why the Christian minority has been so heavily targeted. After all, amid Iraq's complex sectarian equation that pits Sunni versus Shi'a versus Kurd, the Christians, numbering some 400,000, are essentially non-players. Sayed Hassan al-Husaayni, the imam at the mosque closest to the Salvation church, says he and his followers have no time for hate-mongering. "We condemn the attacks that have struck the Christians. They are our brothers and we have been living with them for centuries. I believe they are the victims of a terrorist organization, but I'm positive that Iraqi Muslims respect their brothers. We just worry that Christian will leave Iraq and then the Western world will have a negative opinion of Muslims in Iraq." Christians are generally better-educated than the general population and tend to belong to the professional classes. A mass exodus would only further debilitate Iraq's development.'

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2030747,00.html#ixzz151RrNsmy

Thanks Fayrouz (via Bessam) for posting.

Elie Wiesel influenced Bush decision to oust Saddam

'Another person who had a deep impact on his war decision was holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Elie Wiesel.

"There was passion in his 74-year-old eyes when he compared Saddam Hussein's brutality to the Nazi genocide," the former president remembered.

"Mr. President," Wiesel said, "You have a moral obligation to act against evil," Bush wrote.'

Thank you Elie Wiesel.

Mubarak told US Saddam had WMD

'Former U.S. President George W. Bush says Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak informed the U.S. that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He also spoke of other people who had influence on his decision to invade Iraq.

The revelation comes in Bush's memoirs, Decision Points, in which he highlighted mistakes made during the Iraq war campaign, and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in the country.

"President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt had told [general] Tommy Franks that Iraq had biological weapons and was certain to use them on our troops," Bush revealed in his newly-released book.'