Iraq: Islamist group threatens churches in Mosul

Iraq: Islamist group threatens churches in Mosul


Mosul, 2 July (AKI) - An Islamist group has sent threatening letters to Assyrian churches in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, asking them not to cooperate with US forces.

The letter sent by The Batallion of Just Punishment, Jihad Base in Mesopotamia, also opposes the establishment of a sectarian Assyrian-Christian police force, reported the Assyrian International News Agency on Wednesday.

"We caution and warn anyone who tries to rob us through dealings with the Americans or through the spreading of American forces and/or police to protect the Holy Shrines in the Islamic Republic of Iraq, that these shrines would remain target of the freedom fighters," the letter said.

"We remind the dhimmi people [Jews and Christians] that Iraq is for the noble Iraqis and not for how you are now."

The Islamist group also refers to Assyrian Christians as 'Dhimmi', or a non-Muslim subject of the state governed by Islamic Sharia law.

"I suspect this letter may have actually come from Ansar Al-Islam," said an unnamed Assyrian community leader, referring to the Kurdish Islamist group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

"The Kurds don't want us to have our own police force."
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