Kirkuk , a Christian nurse killed. Archbishop Sako: the situation is “worrying”
ICC Note
An Iraqi Christian nurse was kidnapped and killed. The situation of Christians in Iraq is getting worse.
10/05/2009 Iraq (AsiaNews)-Imad Elias Abdul Karim, 55 year-old Christian nurse who was kidnapped on 3 October in front of his home in the suburb of Mualimin in Kirkuk , has been found dead. Local sources tell AsiaNews that yesterday evening, at about 11, police found the body of man “thrown” on the road between the district and Dumez and Asra Mafqudin Wa: the same place where in the past Risq Aziz – a Christian and ranking official of the city – and two other women were killed. From an initial medical report, the body “has obvious signs of torture.”
Yesterday, Msgr. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk , appealed to authorities and local papers for the man’s release, calling the situation of Christians “worrying” because in recent months they have increasingly become the “target of threats, kidnappings and assassinations.” The attack took place on the evening of October 3. During the hectic assault, the group – made up of three people – opened fire, wounding the man, a husband and father of two children. Local sources state that Imad Elias Abdulkarim was on his way to his car when a “group of three people who shot” at the man appeared. The assailants kidnapped him, disappearing without trace.
