Iraqi police commander held in church attack

Nov 2, 2010

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi authorities are holding a police commander for questioning in connection with this week's deadly attack on a Catholic church in Baghdad.

The police commander was detained on Tuesday under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's orders.

Baghdad military operations spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi refused to identify the commander by name but says he was in charge of the Karradah neighborhood in central Baghdad where the Our Lady of Salvation church is located. the rest

Baghdad church hostage drama ends in bloodbath

Iraqi survivors tell of hiding in priests' dressing room amid gunfire, blasts
...The attack came during a Sunday evening Mass celebrating the church's founding. And even in a place where a sectarian war has killed hundreds in car bombings, executions and mass kidnappings, the seizure of the Syrian Catholic Church, with 120 worshipers inside, ranked among the worst acts in the country's recent history...

...An hour into the attack, militants inside the church roared, "God is great! God is great!" A fresh explosion jolted the building. Screams rang out...

...People cried, "Please help us! We are Christians!"...

..."The soldiers tried to raise my head not to look at the ground and see the corpses. I felt I was stepping on bodies," she said. "I noticed the black robe of one of the priests."...