Iraqi Christians protest killings; pope wants security
At least 1,000 Christians, many holding olive branches, marched in protest near the restive Iraqi city of Mosul on Sunday to urge the government to act decisively after a series of killings, Reuters reports.
After the killings of at least eight Christians in the last two weeks, Pope Benedict XVI issued an appeal Sunday for the security of religious minorities, according to Reuters.
The news service reports that two of the dead had gone missing, their bodies later found dumped in the street with gunshot wounds. Others were shot dead in the street, near their homes, or at their place of work.
Some 683 Christian families, or 4,098 people, fled Mosul between February 20 and 27 following the attacks, the United Nations reported on Sunday.
"I appeal to the civil authorities to complete every effort to give security again to the population, and in particular, to the most vulnerable religious minorities," the Pope said in his weekly blessing from Vatican City.
