Iraqi Christian families that have fled the violence in northern Iraq. (AFP)
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Baghdad
– A number of Christian Iraqi figures and forces will attend a European
Union-sponsored conference in Belgium to address the situation of Christians in
the northern Nineveh field after the elimination of the ISIS terrorists from
the area.
The
two-day conference, scheduled for June 28 in Brussels, is opposed by Chaldean
Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako and the Assyrian Democratic Movement
(Zowaa) headed by Yonadam Kanna.
MP
Joseph Sliwa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the conference will address the general
situation of Christians in Iraq, but will “give priority to Christians in the
Nineveh field area.”
The
majority of Iraqi Christian factions will attend the conference that will also
see the participation of members of the EU and US Congress.
The
conference will tackle whether the Nineveh area will be autonomous or part of
Iraq’s districts after the elimination of ISIS, explained Sliwa.
In
either case, it remains to be seen whether it will adhere to Baghdad or the
Kurdistan Region, he continued.
The
Christian majority advocates autonomous rule linked to the central government
in Baghdad, revealed the MP.
On
Sako’s opposition to the conference, Sliwa said that this stance will not
affect the Brussels talks “because Iraqi Christians have other patriarchal
authorities they can turn to, such as Assyrians and Syriacs”.
The
conference will also address the “confiscation of Christian properties
throughout Iraq and the unjust laws that were ratified against them,” added the
MP.
Christian
residents of Nineveh were driven out of their land when ISIS terrorists seized
control of the area in 2014.
“The
establishment of a secure Christian area in the Nineveh field will help these
members of society remain in Iraq,” explained Sliwa.
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