News & Events
QUOTE: Iraq’s minorities under fire
By IRIN News, July 9, 2014
IRIN: Zaid Al-Ali, an Iraqi lawyer and the author of The Struggle for Iraq’s Future, said that although Christians were not part of Sunni versus Shia sectarianism, or necessarily targeted because of their religion, during the 2006-2007 surge in violence, when sectarian labels were attached to threats, extortion and kidnapping, Christians were particularly affected.
“Those targeted were largely people who had nowhere to turn, no tribal links, no connections in government and generally lived in more insecure neighbourhoods, and so a lot of the victims happened to be Christian,” he said. “Christians have always been targeted, they are the soft belly of Iraq. They don’t have the connections to the state like Muslims do and they don’t have anyone making a serious effort to look after them.”