Iraq’s government says the fight against IS is over, but others warn that the group’s extreme ideology will linger on (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
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March
21, 2018
The
rebuilding of Iraq should be guided by its young people, says an archbishop who
took in 700 students from Mosul University after the occupation of the city by
Islamic State in June 2014.
Bishop
Yousif Thoma Mirkis of Kirkuk, 170km southeast of Mosul, recently visited the
university and reunited with some of the students. It was his desire for
dialogue and sharing that motivated him to offer shelter both to Christian and
Muslim students during Mosul’s occupation, reported AsiaNews.
Since
IS was pushed out of the city in July last year, the university has resumed its
activities and it is with these students that the rebuilding of Iraq should
start, according to the bishop. “We cannot start up with the same pro-Islamic
politicians and radical religious leaders,” he said. “We have had enough of
divisions between Sunnis and Shiites; we must not turn back the clock.”
Although
some returnees have said Mosul is still dangerous, two young men have created a
video to show the more positive side of returning home. ‘Back to Mosul’ tells
the story of the friendship between Alaa’ and Ali, a Christian and a Muslim,
who say they are hoping to pick up their lives where IS forced them to leave
it, two a half years ago.
Father
Salar Kajo of the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee, involved with the
rebuilding of nine towns and villages in the Nineveh Plains, warned that if
families who fled the area in 2014 cannot soon return to their homes, they may
leave the country, the Catholic news site Zenit reported.
Meanwhile
the murder of an Assyrian Christian family of three in the capital, Baghdad, on
8 March, has increased fears among Iraqi Christians that the government is not
able to provide them with adequate security, a local source told World Watch
Monitor. Although it appeared to be a criminally motivated attack, the leader
of a Christian militia that fought against IS attributed it to the group.
The
Iraqi government denounced the murders as “a threat to national unity”,
reported Middle East Concern. It also said “the attacks were designed to empty
major Iraqi cities of Christians and other minorities, while the UN called on
the government to protect religious minorities in the country.
On
15 March, US Vice President Mike Pence confirmed the US government’s commitment
to protecting religious minorities in a conversation with the Iraqi Prime
Minister, Haider Al-Abadi.
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