Christians in Northern Iraq

Iraq has a historic Christian community that traces its origins to the beginnings of Christianity itself. But many Christians who live outside the safety of the Kurdish-enclave of northern Iraq say that their existence as a people is under threat.

When I was last in Kurdistan, I collected material about Christians refugees from the rest of Iraq flooding into the region, where many of them live in a town that does a cottage industry in romance and weddings. I published the story just a couple of weeks ago, but I'm linking to it now since recent events underscore just how dire their plight is. (Exile on Love Street) On Friday, the Archbishop of Mosul, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church of northern Iraq, was kidnapped and killed three of his aids. Mosul has one of the largest Christian populations in the country, and one of its most active Islamist insurgencies.

--Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut