Violence robs Iraq of Christian heritage
By Firas al-Atraqchi
Sunday 14 May 2006

The flight of religious minorities escaping violence in post-war Iraq is threatening to rob the country of its once diverse Christian heritage.

In the early 1980s, Iraq's Christian population numbered 1.4 million but economic strife brought on by the war with Iran and UN sanctions after the 1991 Gulf War pushed some in the ancient community to emigrate.

Nevertheless, the Christian community continued to enjoy religious freedoms in the majority Muslim country until the US-led invasion of 2003, says Adli Juwaidah, a former director of cultural relations in Iraq's ministry of higher education. the rest