Baghdad, Dec 22 (DPA) An Al Qaeda affiliate responsible for a bloody attack on a Baghdad church earlier this year renewed threats against Iraqi Christians, according to Islamist websites Wednesday.
The statement, which has not been verified, said that there would be peace only after the release of two Egyptian women that the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) alleges converted to Islam and are being held captive by Egypt’s Coptic Church.
The ISI also demanded in their letter that ‘the occupation and the pact with the devil between the Crusaders and Shias in Baghdad’ must end and that any missionary activity in the region be stopped.
At least 52 people were killed in an Oct 31 siege on the Our Lady of Salvation church, an Assyrian Catholic place of worship in Baghdad. The ISI claimed responsibility for the attack and issued threats against Christians in Egypt, as well.
