As militants attempted to break government defences in strategic areas and edge closer to Baghdad, Christians joined hundreds of thousands of Shiite and other refugees into Kurdistan.
Their flight to the safety of the neighbouring autonomous region coincided with the expected homecoming of Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, after 18 months of treatment in Germany.
The Islamic State group running Mosul had already demanded thathose Christians still in the city convert, pay a special tax or leave but messages blaring on mosques' loudspeakers appeared to spark an exodus.
An earlier statement by Mosul's new rulers had said there would be "nothing for them but the sword" if Christians did not abide by those conditions before noon (0900 GMT) on Saturday.
- "Christian families are on their way to Dohuk and Arbil" in Kurdistan, Chaldean patriarch Louis Sako, who heads Iraq's largest Christian community, told AFP.
- "For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians."
But many of the poorest families returned when the fighting stopped and IS started administering the city. Sako put the number of Christians who were still in Mosul on Thursday at 25,000.
The mass displacement was the latest in six weeks of turmoil which the have forced more than 600,000 people from their homes, left thousands dead and brought Iraq to the brink of collapse.
Talabani's return to his native Kurdistan on Saturday was likely to spark celebrations among supporters from his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party....................http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Jihadist-ultimatum-sparks-Christian-exodus-from-Iraqs-Mosul/articleshow/38651056.cms19/7/14
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State Department: U.S. Condemns Religious Persecution by ISIL (Christians in Mosul must either convert, pay a tax, leave) ...
ReplyDeleteJen Psaki, Department Spokesperson,Washington, DC,July 18, 2014:
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the systematic persecution of ethnic and religious minorities by the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
We are outraged by ISIL’s recent announcement that Christians in Mosul must either convert, pay a tax, leave, or face execution in the coming days. We have also seen photos of reportedly Christian houses in Mosul marked with pejorative terms for Christians, as well as reports that Shia and Shabak houses have been similarly marked. ISIL also continues to target Sunni clerics and tribal sheikhs who disagree with its dark vision for Iraq.
These abominable actions only further demonstrate ISIL’s mission to divide and destroy Iraq and contradict Islam’s spirit of tolerance and peaceful co-existence. It should be clear that ISIL is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq, but a threat to the entire region. This growing threat exemplifies the need for Iraqis from all communities to work together to confront this common enemy and to take all possible steps to isolate these militant groups from the broader population....................http://www.ellanodikhs.net/2014/07/state-department-us-condemns-religious.html