Head of AAC diocese in Baghdad fears for Armenian community of Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Iraqi bishop addressing an anti-Israel ecumenical jamboree in Amman, Jordan declined to demand an immediate U.S. evacuation from Iraq.



"Is it going to bring about peace or play into the hands of terrorists?" asked Archbishop Avak Asadourian, the Primate of the Iraqi diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who was responding to a question about U.S. church groups that are demanding an expeditious time-table for U.S. troops to quit Iraq.



Asadourian spoke at the "Churches Together for Peace and Justice in the Middle East," organized by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC). Speaking to 130 church officials from the WCC's affiliates around the world, the Armenian Archbishop of Baghdad was representing the Council of Christian Church Leaders in the Iraqi capital.



Asadourian called the calls for a U.S. military withdrawal time-table a "two-edged sword." He expressed hope that the U.S. military presence would "eventually" end but showed even more interest in U.S.-led security forces reducing the violence in Iraq. "The occupying powers have to enforce the Geneva conventions and guarantee the security of the country," the archbishop said. "If they were able to bring about security, a lot of problems would be solved."



"Security is needed to make democracy viable," Asadourian said.



"Every day terrorist attacks are targeting people who could be the cornerstone of a new Iraq: professionals, physicians, and engineers," Asadourian told a WCC interviewer. "And this is resulting in an across-the-board brain drain, which is a shame since it takes decades to train qualified people."



Asadourian referenced the recent murders of two Christian priests in Iraq and noted that 27 members of his church have died, while another 23 have been kidnapped. The Christian population has dropped from 7-8 percent of Iraq to 3-4 percent. Some Christians are also moving "north within the country," which is relatively safer, the archbishop said. He recounted that his own church has declined from 600-700 worshipers to 100-150.



Some have left Baghdad, some fear going out, while others just lack fuel for their cars. "My message to my flock is: do not be afraid, but be careful," he said, reports FrontPage magazine.com, CA.