Five Christian missionaries were attacked by unknown men last Monday morning in Northern Iraq, leaving four dead and the only survivor, Carrie McDonnall, airlifted to a U.S. military hospital in Germany.

What surprise the public is the victims were not missionaries but "humanitarian aid workers," this brings fears that the presence of foreign Christians in Iraq will increase the risk of violence foreigners and local Christians alike.

The sudden attacks on foreigners has left US occupation officials in Iraq confused as to whether the four were targeted because they were foreigners or because they were missionaries. But they have taken the precaution of removing a list of about 50 Christian aid groups from public files in Baghdad.

Some of churches now worrying their churches might be attacked in the same way, so they refuse to accept funds, advice or co-operation offered by US Christians.

Iraq's population of 25 million is mostly Muslim. There is around 1.2 million Assyrian Christians. The Assyrian was once a country which dispatched many missionaries overseas, from Syria to the Philippines. They even carry Christianity as far as China and Japan.

However all the Christians there are now suffering. As operators of the country's liquor stores, they have been subjected to arson and armed attacks from an Islamist campaign to rid Iraq of Western vice. Their children are frequently taken hostage in a postwar wave of kidnappings.

But the Assyrians because of their Christian faith have suffered greatly in an area that is almost completely Muslim. Oppressed by the Persians, Mongols, Turks, Kurds and Arabs, in World War I they lost nearly two thirds of their population including their Archbishop and spiritual leader.

The Muslims who convert to Christianity are described by fellow Muslims as "renegades" and, according to some sources, can face death for the "sin" of rejecting Islam.

The slayings of the missionaries have highlighted not only the danger facing foreigners in postwar Iraq, but the under-the-radar strategy of evangelical Christian mission groups in the predominantly Muslim country.

Despite anti-American threats and possible violent eruption amidst an unstable Iraq, evangelical missionaries are still flocking to Iraq to prepare for an opportunity of a lifetime to preach to Muslims as Iraq becomes a free country on June 30.

"Iraq will become the center for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to Iran, Libya, throughout the Middle East," said Kyle Fisk, executive administrator of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, 4.5 million Christians strong in the United States.

Fisk continued to explain the strategic advantage of establishing mission bases in Iraq draw upon visions of U.S. President George W. Bush.

"President Bush said democracy will spread from Iraq to nearby countries," Fisk said. "A free Iraq also allows us to spread Jesus Christ's teachings even in nations where the laws keep us out."

Some missionaries feel they must preach to in the Middle East in order to obey God's law which takes precedence above all else, human-mandated laws or obstacles.

"God and the president have given us an opportunity to bring Jesus Christ to the Middle East," said Tom Craig, an independent American missionary working in Iraq and Cyprus. "This is my commandment. No amount of danger will stop me."