Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Church attack victims to leave Iraq

The French Embassy in Baghdad says it plans to send dozens of Iraqis injured in last week's attack on a church in the Iraqi capital to France.

"There are 37 people who were wounded in the October 31 attack and 20 others accompanying them," an unnamed French diplomat said on Saturday.

Last Sunday, a group of armed men took hostage more than 100 worshippers in Baghdad's Sayidat al-Nejat Catholic Church.

The Iraqi interior ministry announced that more than 50 people were killed and over 60 others injured in the incident.

"The wounded will be sent to different hospitals in France, especially Paris," the French diplomat told AFP.

He added that it was unclear if the Iraqis would be allowed to stay on in France after their treatment.

The number of Christians living in Iraq has sharply decreased since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

The Christian population in Baghdad has now dwindled to around 150,000, a third of their former population in the capital.
 
SIC: PTV/INT'L