How Mohammed Merah took up Jihad
Mohammed Merah had plenty of stamps in his passport, according to French intelligence officials. He traveled through at least seven Middle Eastern and central Asian countries on his way to Afghanistan in 2010. It was a meandering journey that might have been a metaphor for a young man in search of a purpose and identity. But it's also clear that by the…
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Iraqi protests shake regime
Tens of thousands protested in cities throughout Iraq yesterday against the economic oppression and corrupt officials imposed by the US occupation regime, as well as the US occupation itself. Complaining of joblessness, worsening electricity outages, food shortages, and rising food prices, they denounced or demanded the resignation of several national and l…
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Fatwa: end attacks on christians
A group of senior Iraqi clerics have issued a joint Shiite, Sunni and Christian fatwa calling for the end of violence against the Christian minority in Iraq. They had been meeting at a three-day conference between 12-14 January in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, to discuss the increasing spate of attacks against Iraqi Christians.The deadliest was the siege …
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Iraqi refugees need a lifeline
It has been a brutal and violent few weeks for Iraqis. At the end of October, over 50 Christian Iraqis were massacred at a church in Baghdad. Since then, organized attacks on Christian Iraqis have escalated throughout the country. This is not the beginning of such persecution: of the estimated 1.2 million Christians in Iraq in 2003, only approximately 600,0…
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Iraqis call for Christians' protection
Iraqi Muslim and Christian religious leaders on Thursday called for a united front in protecting Christians following a spate of attacks against them. Thousands of Christians have fled the capital Baghdad after an assault on a Syrian Catholic cathedral in October in which 52 people were killed, and a series of bomb attacks on the homes of Christians in Dece…
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The rebirth of Arab activism
Mohamed Bou'aziz, the young Tunisian who set fire to himself on December 17, is emerging as a symbol of the wider plight of the millions of young Arabs who are struggling to improve their living conditions. Like many across the Arab world, Bou'aziz, who is now being treated for severe burns, discovered that a university degree was insufficient to se…
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Video: Iraqi Christians bury their dead
Christians in Baghdad, Iraq's capital, have buried their family members killed as a result of a wave of attacks targeting the religious minority community. The unrest has forced thousands of Christians to flee from their homes. In the most recent incident, two Christians were killed from a series of coordinated explosions across the Iraqi capital.It cam…
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Video: Muted Christmas in Iraq
Despite threats of violence against their community, Iraqi Christians have gathered at a church where less than two months ago dozens of parishioners were killed by armed gunmen.Religious leaders have advised worshippers to celebrate Christmas only with prayer out of fear for their safety.Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh reports from Baghdad.
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Al Qaeda Wanted to Kill Christians
International terrorist group Al Qaeda in Iraq issued a threat to carry out attacks against Iraqi Christians. They demanded the release of two women who claimed to be detained by the Egyptian Coptic Church, was released. The threat was issued by the group The Islamic State of Iraq, in a commonly used website on Tuesday 21 December. Website itself is commonl…
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Collateral Damage: The Children of Iraq
We are generally cognizant of the impact that war has on soldiers. We know of old veterans of World War 2, the Korean War, and the war in Vietnam and so on. They used to be 'shell shocked', now they suffer the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Veterans deal with the horrors of war in many cases until the day they die. War is hell! But what …
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