Iraqi Christians plot course for self-determination
Coalition proposes formation of province on Nineveh plains
By Michael Carl
12/12/2010 Iraq (World Net Daily) – Christians in Iraq, who trace their faith to the biblically recorded Pentecost and who have refused to be dislodged in the face of Islamic attacks and Mongol hordes over the centuries, are hammering out a course for future worship, and it includes a plan for a Christian province.
Delegates from Iraq’s 16 predominantly Christian political parties and groups have hammered out an agreement to form the province on the Nineveh plains in Northern Iraq.
Delegates gathered in the Kurdish provincial capital city of Erbil and unanimously voted to petition the Iraqi government to approve the request for a self-governing Christian territory in the land Iraqi Christians say was the first predominantly Christian nation.
Assyrian Alliance spokesman Ken Joseph says that many people didn’t believe formation of a Christian province was possible.
“We had a meeting with the prime minister, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, and he said he didn’t think it was possible. Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani said the same thing. He said that Iraq’s Christians have been in such a difficult situation and honestly couldn’t believe that something like this was possible,” Joseph stated.
“The 16 major parties got together in Erbil and they specifically agreed on a province for the Christians in Iraq,” Joseph said. “This province will allow an indigenous language, a parliament and allow us to persuade the refugees living in neighboring countries that they can come home because they have a place of their own.”
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