Release International

A five-year-old boy has become the latest casualty of what appears to be a concerted campaign to attack Iraqi Christians.

The body of Tony Adwar Shaweel was found in the Roofya area of Akra, two months after an unknown group abducted the child and demanded a $50,000 ransom. He had been shot several times.

Kidnappings are still common in Iraq but Tony's death is widely seen as yet more proof that criminal gangs are specifically targeting the Christian community.

Four Christians have been killed in the city of Kirkuk alone in the past two months (Prayer Alert, May 5, 2009). The AsiaNews online news agency reports that a 34-year-old Christian teacher, Namir Nadhim Gourguis, was abducted from a primary school about 20 miles out of Kirkuk on May 14. The Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako has appealed to Muslim religious leaders in the area for help in securing Namir's release.

Overall, violence in Iraq has subsided – but attacks on Christians and other religious minorities have continued. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reinstated Iraq on its list of 'countries of particular concern' in December, for tolerating 'ongoing, severe abuses of religious freedom'.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that, while most Iraqis who have fled their nation want to come back, Christians are much more likely to register as refugees and seek asylum abroad. 'They simply do not feel safe enough [in Iraq],' Philippe Leclerc, UNHCR's acting representative in Damascus, told the Associated Press news agency. 'They cannot sufficiently count on state security or any other force to protect them.'

(Sources: Ankawa, AsiaNews, Associated Press, Baptist Press, International Christian Concern)

• Pray for Tony Adwar Shaweel's grieving family. Pray for the immediate release of teacher Namir Nadhim Gourguis.

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