Easter in Iraq Overshadowed by Continued Attacks

With a mixture of anxiety and joy, Iraqi Christians have celebrated Easter. A roadside bomb hit an Iraqi police patrol on Sunday in a southern city and gunmen opened fire on a coffee shop in the north, leaving at least one dead and four others injured across the country, according to the Associated Press.

The attacks are alleged to be related to the ongoing political affairs. On Tuesday, Iraq's newly elected lawmakers will open a meeting where parliament is expected to name top leaders of the first democratic Iraqi government in half a decade.

In the midst of the unstable political and social situation, Iraqi Christians have set themselves apart for Easter celebrations in churches which luckily have not been the targets of attacks. Many Christians gathered at the Virgin Mary Church in Baghdad yesterday.

"We wish Iraqis in general and Christians in particular a happy Easter and wish them a happy year," said one parishioner, Sabah Rasam.

"We are brothers with all Iraqis and will remain so forever," added Rasam.

Even though many Christians have hailed the emerging hope of democracy brought about through the election of the new Iraqi government in January, worries still remain during the current political interim period.

Yesterday, Iraq's interim Prime Minister Eyad Allawi said to Shiite religious leaders, "Thrusting the religious establishment into daily political affairs could distance it from its guiding role and disrupt relations between the political forces, which could create an imbalance."

"Everyone must agree on the role of the religious leadership in the interim period," he added.

The ongoing violence and coordinated attacks on churches last year have driven many Iraqi Christians to flee to the neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Syria. The Iraqi Christian community, concentrated around Baghdad and in the northern cities of Kirkuk, Mosul and Irbil, is one of the oldest in the world. However, the Christian community only constitutes 3 percent of Iraq's 25 million-strong population.

Most Iraqi Christians belong to the Chaldean denomination. Other denominations include the Assyrians, who constitute a sizable section, Catholic and Orthodox Syriacs, as well as Catholic and Orthodox Armenians.