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Assyrians in Northern Iraq Terrorized by the Kurdish Mlitia

The Kurdish style Democracy

8, 26, 05

Bartilla, North Iraq (AINA) -- Witnesses in Bartilla reported yesterday that a group of Peshmarga fighters (Kurdish fighters under the name of Iraqi National Guards) killed 37 year old Nabil Akram Amona by shooting him in the head execution style. Mr. Amona, a father of two, was filling his car with gasoline at the local gas station when the Peshmarga militia drove in, ran from their car to the gas pump and took the gas nozzle out of his car. Seconds later, they put a gun to his head and shot him. A second Assyrian, Matta Shamoun Zora Sha'ya who attempted to bring Mr. Amona to the hospital was also shot to the head twice. Mattai, a father of 4, who is the nephew of the local Syriac Orthodox bishop of Mar Matti Monastery, is in serious condition in the Nineveh hospital. Eyewitnesses heard the militia speaking Kurdish and have seen them come in regularly to steal the gasoline and natural gas from this government station to sell it on the black-market.

The murder is widely seen as a retaliation for the anti-constitution protests (AINA, 8-24-2005) the Assyrians held two days earlier. The Kurds have voted for the constitution in their regional government.

The Kurdistan Democratic party, which funds and controls the Peshmerga, has been stepping up its aggression by arresting Assyrians for no apparent reason and at times beating them severely. On August 19th Sahir Ibrahim Shamoun, a native of Bartilla, was kidnapped and beaten with the base of pistols until he lost consciousness, and was left paralyzed from the beating.

 

 A Statement by Abu Imad a man who works at the Yarmouk Hospital, whith the largest refrigerated morgues in Baghdad, but has never lost his firm religious faith or his sympathy for each victim. 

"The thing that makes me most sad is if a Christian is killed, because they are a minority. They are peaceful people and do not hurt anybody. During Saddam's time, no one was killed. We never received any dead people unless maybe there was a car accident. I can estimate that I've received 200 Christians since the collapse of the regime - most were interpreters.

I had a Christian neighbor for 13 years. I considered them like my brothers - they were educated, very nice. They learned our customs, we celebrated each other's holy days. They are coming here, mothers or fathers, and they are even weeping in a polite way, a calm way, not like our people who are hitting themselves [referring to the Shiite practice of beating their chests as a sign of grief]."

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Who are the Christians of Iraq?

Assyrians in Northern Iraq terrorized by the Kurdish Mlitia 8, 27, 05

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