Christians protest Iraq election law

[sabra]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister yesterday sought safeguards for small religious communities in this mainly Muslim country as Christians protested parliament's decision to stop setting aside seats for minorities on provincial councils.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, a series of explosions struck mostly Shiite areas yesterday evening, killing at least 32 people and wounding 100, police reported. The attacks appeared aimed at reviving sectarian tensions that once threatened the nation with civil war.

Parliament last week approved a new law mandating elections in most of Iraq's 18 provinces. But the law removed a system that reserved a few legislative seats for Christians and other religious minorities.

Lawmakers cited a lack of census data to determine what the quotas should be. But many Christians saw the move as an effort to marginalize their community.

"I think that some political groups are pushing the remaining Christians to leave Iraq," worshiper Afram Razzaq-Allah said after services at a Catholic church in Baghdad. "They want us to feel that we are no longer Iraqis."

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20080929_Christians_protest_Iraq_election_law.html

[Mika]

1. Freedumb on the march.

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LET"S ROLL!


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[dmallind]

2. It's bad when any religion uses its majority status to marginalize others

Although I suspect the Christians who who will sympathize with their brethren in Iraq may be less sympathetic to the idea of quotas for religious minorities in the US, who are marginalized effectively enough and lack this small accommodation.