Where is the Ecumenical Payback here? If this situation was reversed, the world would be outraged!
Gunmen Kidnap Catholic Archbishop in Iraq
Mon Jan 17, 2:08 PM
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen kidnapped a Catholic archbishop and targeted security forces in a series of brazen attacks Monday that killed more than 20 people. U.S. Marines suffered undisclosed casualties in a car bombing in Ramadi, where two Shiite Muslims were beheaded and their bodies left on a sidewalk.
The top U.S. general here predicted more violence on the Jan. 30 balloting but pledged to do “everything in our power” to ensure safety. U.S. and Iraqi authorities hope for a substantial turnout, especially from the long-suppressed Shiite Muslim majority.
In Mosul, Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, of the Syrian Catholic Church, was seized while walking in front of his church, a priest said on condition of anonymity. No group claimed responsibility, but The Vatican condemned the abduction as a "terrorist act.
Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people. The major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians with small numbers of Roman Catholics.
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The deadliest attacks occurred in the three insurgent flashpoint cities north and west of Baghdad in areas where Sunni Muslim insurgents are seeking to derail the balloting.
In Buhriz, 55 kilometers (35 miles) north of Baghdad, gunmen attacked an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint at the provincial broadcasting center, killing eight soldiers and wounding four. A suicide driver blasted a police station in Beiji, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, killing seven policemen and wounding 25 people.
In Ramadi, 110 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, a U.S. spokesman said Marines suffered casualties in a clash which erupted after they were sent to check a report of a suspicious vehicle. When the Marines arrived, they came under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire and the vehicle exploded, according to Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert.
“There were U.S. casualties,” he said but declined to give further details, citing security.
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Also in Ramadi, officials Monday found six bodies - five civilians and one Iraqi soldier - each bearing handwritten notes declaring them collaborators, officials said. Four had been shot but two were beheaded, their blood-soaked bodies left where they died.
A note left beside the bodies said they were Shiite who confessed to spying for the Americans. They were seized after leaving an American garrison in the middle of the city, the note said.
Shiites have been targets of intimidation because they are expected to turn out in large numbers for the election, in which Iraqis will choose a 275-member National Assembly that will appoint a new government and draft a permanent constitution.
Shiites form about 60 percent of Iraq’s 26 million population, and their candidates are expected to win most of the assembly seats. Many Sunni Arabs fear the loss of power they enjoyed under Saddam Hussein. Sunni clerics have called for a boycott, and U.S. officials fear a low Sunni turnout may cast doubt on the legitimacy of the new government.
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On Monday, police discovered a car loaded with explosives in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. On Sunday, a total of 17 people were killed in attacks along the main highway from Baghdad to Kut, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the southeast.
