|PIC1|Christian in Iraq remain under siege, said the head of the North American branch of Open Doors on Monday.

Open Doors, which serves the international persecuted church, is one of a handful of Christian agencies working with vulnerable communities in Iraq in spite of widespread instability.

While there were around 550,000 Christians in the country prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein, Open Doors said it was difficult to determine how many were still there today as a succession of attacks targeted specifically at Christians has prompted many of them to leave.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that at least two million Iraqis have fled the country since the US-led invasion in 2003, while a further two million remain displaced within Iraq, mainly in the northern provinces.

The northern city of Mosul has been particularly hard hit this year. The latest wave of attacks in October left at least 25 Christians dead and saw thousands more flee the city. Earlier in the year, a number of churches were bombed by Islamic extremists in what Iraqi church leaders and rights groups believe is part of a deliberate campaign to wipe out the Christian population in Iraq.

“The situation continues to grow grimmer for the targeted minority Christian community in Iraq, especially in Mosul,” said Carl Moeller, head of Open Doors USA.

Open Doors is providing the remaining Christians with Bibles and other resources to help them live out their faith.

"The marginalised people of Iraq desperately need our support,” said Moeller. “Pray that 2009 will be the year when the violence will decrease and Christians will not be killed and kidnapped simply for their belief in Jesus Christ."

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a statement last week that although there had been some reduction in violence in Iraq since its last report on the country in May 2007, it remained “seriously concerned about severe violations of religious freedom there”.

“The situation is dire for Iraq's smallest religious minorities, including Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, other Christians, Sabean Mandaeans, and Yazidis, who face a threat to their very existence in the country,” the USCIRF said.