RNA – The president and members of the Council of Christians of Iraq met with Najaf-based Grand Ayatollah Bashir al-Najafi for a dialogue over recent events in the war-torn Arab country, which has hit the once large Iraqi Christian community hard.
The leader of Iraq’s Armenian Apostolic community explained the oppression Armenians and other Christian sects have suffered under by anti-Christian terrorists at the hands of Takfiri terrorists and added that the Shi’ite sources of emulation play the role of the father of all Iraqi’s.
He added that the most realistic and heartfelt defenders of all ethnicities and religious communities in Iraq are the sources of emulation.
Ayatollah al-Najafi referred to the oppression suffered by most Iraqis. Najaf considers any sedition among the various religious, ethnic and tribal groups of the society of a country as a “red line” and an insult to the all Iraqi people.
The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world. The vast majority are Eastern Aramaic-speaking ethnic Assyrians; however, there is a very small community of Armenians as well. Since the 2003 US-led invasion, their numbers have plummeted to between 200,000 and 450,000 due to persecution by Takfiri extremists.
The revered source of emulation also met some members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, where he stated that these forces have answered the call of their religious authorities (the source of emulation).
“They have left their families and children and work and sacrificed their lives to defend their homeland and to eradicate terrorism,” he stated.
He also stressed upon the necessity of paying the Popular Mobilization Forces their wages, visited the families of martyrs and the wounded, and stressed upon the importance of meeting their needs.
Ayatollah al-Najafi “Victory will be won by the hands of the Iraqi people and the blood of the zealous champions of the popular mobilization forces.”
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