Baghdad: Chaldean Church condemns Nasirya bombing

The Archbishop of Baghdad, Mgr Emmanuel Dalley, issued a statement on behalf of the Chaldean Catholic church yesterday, following the attack on the Italian military police headquarters in Nasirya, in which many people were killed and injured. He said: "We firmly condemn the attack against the Italian military, because it is also an attack against the Iraqi wellbeing. As Chaldean Christians we are totally opposed to actions perpetrated by terrorists. We are sorry and stricken by what occurred to the Italians and in the past also to the Americans, Polish and English. These attacks are not the work of Iraqis, but foreign terrorists who aim merely to cause chaos in our nation. "Who commits these acts only wants to destabilise Iraq and strike out at the foreign powers. But we must not forget that the Iraqis are also subject to this violence, particularly the civil police that is struggling to guarantee security." Mgr Dalley said there was growing insecurity in the nation due to the continuing attacks. "People go to bed at night unsure whether they will see another day. There is no work and no possibility of returning to normal life. There is nothing left to do but to pray for peace and tranquility, invoking the intervention of the Lord for the Iraqi population and foreign forces present in Iraq to protect us". Pope John Paul said: "I learned with profound sorrow the news of the vile attack in Nassiriya, in Iraq, where the Italian Carabinieri and soldiers were killed in their generous line of duty in the peace mission". He said: "I firmly condemn this new act of violence, which adding to other ferocious gestures conducted in the tormented nation, does not facilitate its pacification and revival. In elevating my fervent prayer for the victims, I invoke comfort from the Christian Lord for the families of the victims, to which I feel particularly close in this hour of profound sorrow." Source: MISNA