An interview with Baghdad's Armenian Archbishop Avak Asadourian, primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church - a prominent Iraqi Christian who shares his views on the situation in the violence-plagued country.

By Juan Michel

"I come from a wounded Iraq and a severely wounded Baghdad," said the man in black habit standing in front of some 130 silent church representatives from six continents gathered for a peace conference on the Middle East. "The situation in my country is tragic," the man continued. "We were promised freedom, but what we need today is freedom to have electricity, clean water, to satisfy the basic needs of life, to live without fear of being abducted."

The man addressing the World Council of Churches (WCC) 18-20 June international conference "Churches together for peace and justice in the Middle East" in Amman, Jordan was Baghdad's Armenian Archbishop Avak Asadourian, primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church (See of Etchmiadzin) in Iraq.

Asadourian was in Amman representing the Council of Christian Church Leaders in Baghdad. Created in June last year, it is a body made up of 17 church leaders, including two patriarchs, from four Christian families: Catholic, Oriental and Eastern Orthodox and mainline Protestants. The Armenian primate is its general secretary.

Why did Baghdad's church leaders establish this council?

To take care of our faithful in these difficult times and to keep in touch with other Christian bodies. The Council presents the needs of our people to humanitarian organizations and channels their help.

What is the situation of Iraqi Christians today?

The situation is the same for all Iraqis, Christians or Muslims, and it is a tragic one. Bullets do not discriminate between religions. Every day terrorist attacks are targeting people who could be the cornerstone of a new Iraq: professionals, physicians, and engineers. And this is resulting in an across-the-board brain drain, which is a shame since it takes decades to train qualified people.

Are Christians being targeted because of their religion?

Not as such, except lately when Christians living in a certain area of Baghdad have been ordered to leave or be killed. The violence is targeting everyone in the same way. Of course, in a context of complete lawlessness, some thugs do whatever they want. They can threaten you, kidnap or kill you.

Recently, two Christian priests, one Orthodox and the other Chaldean, were killed. In my church, 27 members have died because of the violence since 2003. Although not personally targeted, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another 23 members have been kidnapped. Since many Christians are relatively well off, they become targets for possible ransom, just like well-off Muslims do.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, some 1.2 million people have fled Iraq since the start of last year. What about the Iraqi Christians?

Before the war, Christians made up some 7-8% of the population. Today, they are 3-4%. Christians are also moving north within the country, to relatively safer areas. The churches are emptying. In my own church, we used to have some 600-700 faithful worshipping every Sunday. Today, they are 100-150. The reasons are several: they might be afraid of going out, but they also might simply not have petrol in their cars - queues at gas stations are three to five kilometres long - or they might have moved out of Baghdad.

What were Muslim-Christian relations like before the war and what are they like today?

We Christians were in the country before Islam arrived, especially in the northern part. But faith-based distinctions were never an issue: Sunni, Shia, Christian. Our relationships were very amicable. These differences only became an issue after the war started.

However, we work to maintain bridges. We have twice visited the country's most prominent Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, as well as the Sunni leadership. And I want to give credit where credit is due. High-ranking Muslim clerics deserve credit for their efforts in trying to prevent the present conflict from evolving into a full-blown civil war.

Are you experiencing the impact of clashing civilizations?

I don't see a clash of civilizations but a bungled war with tragic results for both sides. It seems to me that the occupying powers did not do their homework well. It is one thing to take over a country, and another thing to run it properly in order to allow people to be able to exercise freedom. Security is needed to make democracy viable. Democracy is not only a concept, but also a way of life. Today in Iraq, we need basic freedoms, like freedom from fear, freedom to work, to travel in order to satisfy basic needs. One of the tragic features of the current situation is the fact that they have stolen the nights of Baghdad from us.

What do you think would be a possible way out?

The occupying powers have to enforce the Geneva conventions and guarantee the security of the country. If they were able to bring about security, a lot of problems would be solved. Ours is a rich country. We have land, water, brainpower, the second largest oil reserves in the world - which ultimately instead of being a blessing has become a curse.

My message to my flock is: do not be afraid, but be careful. Confront this dire situation with optimism, and pray and work for a better future.

How could churches outside Iraq help you?

I wonder whether churches outside Iraq are speaking about this issue boldly enough to be heard. If they were able to advocate effectively with their governments, they should tell the occupying powers to fulfill their promises of a better life for Iraq. Promises of a bright future should now be substantiated. One key point in the story of the Good Samaritan is that he not only extended help, but his help was complete and effective.

Some US churches have been asking for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. What do you think about this?

At this point in time, I don't know... It's a two-edged sword. Is it going to bring about peace or play into the hands of terrorists? But an occupation is never acceptable and is always something temporary that should eventually come to an end.

My message to churches outside Iraq, specially to those in the occupying countries, is: Help us to make life better for the Iraqi people, to alleviate its suffering, to keep their governments' promises for a better future in all walks of life, and ask for God's help in this humanitarian endeavor.



Juan Michel, WCC media relations officer, is a member of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.


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Proposed law reignites long-standing debate among Kurds about whether polygamy hurts or helps women.

By Najeeba Mohammad in Sulaimaniyah

Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament is challenging social and religious tradition by considering legislation that would officially ban polygamy in this northern region, in a move that has divided some Kurdish political leaders and women's groups.

According to Iraqi legislation concerning the individual, which is largely derived from Islamic law, men can be married to as many as to four women at the same time.

The proposed legislation would make the practice illegal in Iraqi Kurdistan, and has reignited a long-standing debate among Kurds about whether polygamy hurts or helps women, and whether legal restrictions would stop multiple marriages.

"It has become a part of the culture," said Roonak Faraj, head of the Women's Media and Cultural Centre in Sulaimaniyah. Faraj is one of many women's rights activists and political leaders who support a ban on polygamy, but she does not believe the law will work unless it is accompanied by an awareness campaign.

Polygamy is a traditional practice in Iraq that is supported by many clerics, leaders and citizens, both men and women. At the same time, other politicians and women's groups have fought against the practice for years and argue that it is time to outlaw the tradition.

From 1994 to 2005, Iraqi Kurdistan was divided into two administrations. In Sulaimaniyah, the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, banned polygamy. However, many polygamists from the area simply married in the areas run by the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which allowed multiple unions.

The two administrations were unified in 2005 and are now drafting laws to cover the three provinces in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Under the proposed law, men who married more than one wife would be fined the equivalent of 6,000 US dollars and face three to five years in prison, while women who became second, third or fourth wives would face a 3,000 dollar fine. Clerics who issue licenses for such marriages would also be punished, although legislators have not determined yet what the penalties would be.

The law would also give women the same inheritance rights as men, and accord equal value to legal testimony given by women. Current Iraqi legislation follows Islamic law by giving women a lesser share in inheritance, while the testimony of one man is worth that of two women in court.

However, these provisions have not resulted in as much public controversy as the proposed change in the polygamy statute.

"I believe polygamy should be totally banned," said Arez Abdullah, a PUK member of parliament who has pushed for women's rights in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The current laws, Abdullah said, "are not in line with human rights principles or the protection of women".

But advocates of the right to polygamy argue that in Iraq, multiple marriages help women with limited options gain financial support or freedom from their own families. Women rarely live on their own in Iraq, and many women in their mid-thirties or older say it is difficult to find an unmarried man.

Sheeran Ali, from Chamchamal, south of Sulaimaniyah, wants to get married but does not believe that at 37, she can find an unwed husband. The Iraqi regime arrested her older brother during the Anfal campaign of the Eighties, when tens of thousands of Kurds went missing following a crackdown by Iraqi forces.

Tradition dictates that older siblings should marry before their younger brothers and sisters, so Sheeran waited for her brother to come back. He never did. After Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in 2003, mass graves were found containing Anfal victims, and many families accepted that their loved ones were dead.

"In this society, people tend to look down at unmarried women," said Sheeran. "I'm ready to marry a married man because I don't want to hear the demeaning comments. I have the right to be a mother like any woman."

According to Kharaman Mohammad, a media officer with the Kurdistan Islamic Sisters’ Union, which opposes the bill, "Women will be the first victims of a total ban on polygamy. We don't support a total ban on polygamy. We want to impose regulations and limitations on how it is practiced."

Mohammad said polygamy should be allowed under extenuating, unforeseen circumstances that occur after a couple get married, such as if the wife becomes chronically ill or is unable to bear children.

Even those who support the ban admit that it will be difficult to enforce because Iraqi national law will continue to allow polygamy. Under Iraqi law, judges can approve a polygamous marriage if the husband demonstrates that he can provide for his wives and that the union is legal. They can also refuse to sanction polygamist unions if they believe the wives will not be treated equally.

Khalil Ibrahim, a member of the Kurdistan parliament, said that even if the law is passed, polygamists will still be able to marry outside the three Kurdish provinces.

"Even if this law is passed, it won't be implemented," he said.

Ibrahim is a member of the Kurdistan Islamic Union party which opposes the ban, but supports a law requiring that wives must give their consent before their husbands can enter into additional marriages.

Kwestan Mohammad, who heads the committee to defend women's rights in the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament, said the penalties envisaged in the draft law were severe enough to deter people from ignoring the ban.

"I'm certain the law will be successful," she said. "No man will be prepared to serve three years in prison for marrying a second wife."

Najeeba Mohammad is an IWPR trainee journalist in Sulaimaniyah. This article originally appeared in Iraqi Crisis Report, produced by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

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Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. sent a telegram, in the Pope's name, to Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mossul of the Chaldeans, Iraq, for the killing in that city yesterday of Fr. Ragheed Aziz Ganni and three sub-deacons. The text of the English-language telegram follows:

"The Holy Father was deeply saddened to learn of the senseless killing of Fr. Ragheed Aziz Ganni and sub-deacons Basman Yousef Daoud, Ghasan Bidawid and Wadid Hanna, and he asks you kindly to convey to their families his heartfelt condolences. He willingly joins the Christian community in Mossul in commending their souls to the infinite mercy of God our loving Father and in giving thanks for their selfless witness to the Gospel. At the same time he prays that their costly sacrifice will inspire in the hearts of all men and women of good will a renewed resolve to reject the ways of hatred and violence, to conquer evil with good and to cooperate in hastening the dawn of reconciliation, justice and peace in Iraq. To the families and to all who mourn their dead in faith and in the hope which draws its certainty from the resurrection His Holiness cordially imparts his apostolic blessing as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord."