#news Italian FM in Iraq for bilateral ties, talks about Aziz, Christians

BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini arrived in Baghdad on Sunday to hold talks with Iraqi leaders aiming at promoting bilateral ties and to discuss situation of Christian minority in Iraq.

Frattini was received at Baghdad airport by his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari and held a meeting with the Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki and is due to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

In a news conference, Zebari told reporters that Frattini talked with Maliki about his country's willingness to participate in Iraq's rebuilding, along with discussing the situations of Iraqi Christians after a series of deadly attacks against the minority in Baghdad and northern Iraq.

Zebari stressed the stance of the Iraqi government that Iraqi Christians are part of the Iraqi people and their protection is essential for the Iraqi government.

Zebari also revealed that the visiting Italian minister has also called for clemency against the death penalty for Saddam Hussien's Christian top aide Tareq Aziz.

"Such call is not only from Italy, but also from Russia, Vatican, some Arab countries and certain international organizations, and we have confirmed that (Italian) minister that the Iraqi jurisdiction is the one who decide, we have to respect the Iraqi law as Aziz has got all his legal right through fair prosecution," Zebari said.

For his part, Frattini said that his country's appeal for leniency against death penalty for Aziz was based on the "spirit of friendship that characterizes our (Italian-Iraqi) relations."

On October 26, Aziz was sentenced to death penalty by an Iraqi court for his role in eliminating religious parties during Saddam Hussein's regime.

Aziz, 74, was the only Christian in Saddam's regime. He was known as a fierce American critic after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent 1990-1991 Gulf War.

Frattini said that he met with the Iraqi Cardinal Emmanuel Delly and some Christian citizens who were at the Baghdad church which was attacked by Qaida militants on Oct.31, killing 58 people and wounding 75 others, most of them were Christian worshippers.

"I met at the Italian embassy Cardinal Delly the bishop of Baghdad and those who were in the church under attack of criminals who assassinated a young priest and other people because they are Christians," Frattini said.

"Prime Minister Maliki told me that they consider them ( Christians) as sons of Iraq, they are Iraqis, so they should be fully protected," Frattini added.

Farttini also said that Maliki talked about the formation of police units including Iraqi Christians in order to provide security for the Christian communities.

A day after the deadly attack on Oct. 31, an al-Qaida affiliated militant group in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that Christians and their organizations have become "legitimate targets" for the al-Qaida militants.

Most of the Iraqi Christian minority, about one million in total, live in Baghdad and northern cities of the country including Kirkuk and Mosul. The religious minority in Iraq has already suffered hundreds of murders due to chaos and insecurity that engulfed Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Sphere: Related Content