Christians Shut Out Of National Conference In Baghdad As Stream of Refugees number 40,000!

In a series of moves that do not bode well for the future of democracy and the rule of law in Iraq a series of maneuvers at the Iraqi National Conference in Baghdad have undermined the voice of the Assyrian Christians, who according to figures of the previous government comprise 2.5 Million or over ten percent of the country.According to sources within the conference who asked not to be named, out of the total of 1,000 delegates only 54 Assyrian Christians were allowed to attend and in backdoor maneuvering a total of only three out of the 100 Delegates to be chosen are being allowed. 100 Assyrian Christian delegates should have been allowed to the conference and 10 for the National Committee."We are calling on the democratic countries of the world to assist us" the source said "Out of the watchful eyes of the world the same old thugs from the old regime are throwing their weight around and depriving the Christians of their historical and political rights'
"We call up on the democratic countries of the world to insist that the Assyrian Christians, as the indigenous people of Iraq be set aside 10 out of the 100 members of the National Council and that these members be chosen from our own community, not imposed from outside."The Assyrian Christians, are the indigenous people of Iraq, a population that according to some experts nearly 60% of the current Iraqi population are former Christians.The people of "Nineveh", of the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale, the Assyrian Christians play prominent roles in Church History becoming the first nation to accept Christianity and according to Kenneth Scott LaTourette in "A History of Christianity" the largest missionary sending people in Christian History.The state of the Assyrian Christians has taken a sudden turn for the worse in recent days with the announcement by the Iraqi Minister of Migration, Pascale Isho Warda, the only Assyrian Christian in the Iraqi Government, that "The number of Christians who have left Iraq has reached 40,000 according to the latest statistics. This emigration is due to insecurity and the attacks on the Churches in Baghdad and Mosul two weeks ago."According to Assyrian Christian activist William Yonan, who asked that his name be changed for fear of reprisal "We urgently need help! There is a calculated campaign to cause our people, the original people of Iraq to leave. There are those who hate Christians, simply because of our faith and because of the simple fact that we represent the voice of reason and normalcy...
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http://www.assyrianchristians.com/commentary_shut_out_april_29_05.htm
As in the days of Noah...