Patriarch Afram II Condemns Terrorists Crimes against Iraq’s Christians

 DAMASCUS, CAIRO- Patriarch Mar Ignatius Afram II of Antioch and All East, the Supreme Leader of Orthodox Syriac Church, has condemned the crimes committed by the terrorists of the so-called “Islamic State in Iraq and Levant” (ISIL) against Christians in northern Iraq.

The patriarch, who has also condemned the destruction of Iraqi churches, called for halting the financing of the extremist groups which terrorize the Iraqis and create division and sedition among the Iraqi people who have got a long history of coexistence.

In a statement of which SANA got a copy yesterday, Patriarch Afram II said “threats by terrorist groups against Christians in northern Iraq have been escalated and attacks and the crimes of killing against the Christians and other components of the Iraqi society have increased in the city of Mosul.”

 “The terrorists urged the Christians through loudspeakers and messages to leave their houses in Mosul and get out of the city and confiscated their properties,” Afram II added.

“The messages gave the Christians of Mosul a deadline until midday Saturday to make a choice; convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death,” the patriarch said.

He urged the international community and organizations as well as good will people to act immediately to put an end to the terrorists’ attacks and threats in Iraq and the entire Middle East.

The patriarch called on the Christians in Iraq to deal wisely with the developments keep unified and stick to the lands of the ancestors until the crisis comes to an end.

In Cairo, the Orthodox Coptic Church in Egypt also condemned the extremist takfiri practices of the ISIL’s terrorists against Christian families in northern Iraq and urged prayers for a unified Iraq.

 H. Mustafa