As you read below of the chilling murders of Maysoon Farid and Osama
Farid, two Iraqi Christians, please pray for the Christians in Iraq who
are under tremendous persecution. Many are murdered, and most have had to
flee the country. Maysoon was a brave woman to walk into such a trap,
which she probably understood to be life-threatening to herself.
Christianity in Iraq predates Islam.
Sadly, how often we forget our brothers and sisters in Christ who are
Arab, whether they be in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, or even in Israel. I
have found Arab Christians to be among the most beautiful of God's gems
in his kingdom here on earth.
Please join me in praying for these beloved Christians, regardless of
which branch of the Church to which they belong--Catholic, Coptic,
Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical, Reformed. They all count among the
precious martyrs of our present age. They are suffering saints with a
history that goes back to the earliest years of the Christian Church.
Their roots are long and strong, and they have much to teach us because
they have persevered throughout history to the glory of God.
Let our hearts be touched by their sorrow and sufferings, and let us give
them priority in our prayers. This is the unity of the faith spoken of in
Scripture, and shows the world we are truly one in Jesus Christ. In the
past, there were great lapses of Christian love and unity that marred the
reputation of the Church and grieved God. Today, we are given an
opportunity to redeem that reputation through sincere love of the
brethren.
Helen Louise
Archbishop calls for muted Christmas after 2 killings By Leila Fadel and
Ali al-Basri
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Wednesday, Dec. 12 2007
BAGHDAD The Christian archbishop of Basra has canceled the celebration
of Christmas in that southern city to protest the murders of a brother
and sister, both Christians, as bombings and mayhem struck at cities
throughout Iraq.
Archbishop Imad al-Banna said Tuesday that Christians in Basra should
still pray to mark Christmas but should forgo such celebratory trappings
as trees, gift-swapping and family gatherings to protest the deaths of
Maysoon Farid, a 30-year-old cashier at a local pharmacy, and her brother
Osama, 33. The two were found dead Monday night, dumped in a neighborhood
controlled by the Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militia.
Meanwhile, two police officers in Baghdad were killed by a car bomb that
struck near the homes of two prominent politicians, while south of
Fallujah, in the west, family members mourned a 9-year-old girl who they
said was killed by U.S. troops.
A friend of Maysoon Farid, Jassim al-Mousawi, said Osama was kidnapped around noon on Monday. The
kidnapper then used Osama's phone to contact Maysoon and demanded that
she meet with him to win her brother's release, Mousawi said. She left
to meet the kidnapper. Their bodies were found Monday night, morgue
workers and police said, in a poor neighborhood in downtown Basra.
There was no claim of responsibility, but Amal Fuad, 52, who said she was
a relative and attended their funeral at Mary Afram Catholic Church, said
she was certain that the pair's religion was the reason for their
deaths. The killings, she said, were intended to make Christians live in
fear "until they leave."
The Baghdad bombing happened about 20 yards from the home of a Sunni
legislator, Saleh al-Mutlaq, and about 400 yards from the home of former
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
Police said the car that exploded was driven by a dapperly dressed man
who passed unchallenged through a checkpoint leading into a neighborhood
where many Iraqi officials live, just outside the Green Zone. At a
second checkpoint, guards asked him for identification, but he sped
forward and detonated the car, killing two police officers, al-Mutlaq
said.
U.S. officials in Baghdad confirmed that U.S. special forces and Iraqi
troops arrested one suspected member of al-Qaida in Iraq in a raid near
Karmah, south of Fallujah. But they had no information about the death
of Hadil Walid Majed Mitaab, 9, who family members said was in a house
in Sicher, near Karmah, with her mother when U.S. and Iraq troops
attacked about 2:30 a.m.
With helicopters flying overhead, the U.S. and Iraqi troops blasted away
the doors of two houses and opened fire on a third, which is where Hadil
was, family members said. Police and relatives said a bullet pierced
Hadil's neck, and she bled to death in her mother's arms.
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