16/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Respect for Christian minority. “We are not asking for a crusade but we are just asking for peace in Iraq” and for the rights of Christians to be protected, said Archbishop of Baghdad Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka (whose cathedral was the scene of the massacre of 53 Christians on 31 October), speaking at a press conference organised by MEPs Mario Mauro and Jaime Mayor Oreja (both EPP) in Strasbourg on 15 December. “More than a thousand Christians have been killed and one million displaced from Iraq these last years”, Mauro stated, deploring that Christians had become “hostages” in the struggle for power in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The international community must act to end the suffering of Christians and help the Iraqi government ensure that the rights of all minorities are respected, said Mayor Oreja. (H.B./transl.rt)