Written question asked by Denis MacShane (Independent (affiliation)) on Wednesday, 24 November 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 November 2010. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Tuesday, 30 November 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq: Christianity

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the killing of (a) Catholics and (b) other Christians by extremist Islamist groups in Iraq.

Answer: In addition to press reports, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received a number of reports from our embassy in Baghdad on the recent attacks on Christians in the country. These reports do not generally distinguish between Catholics and other Christian groups.We utterly condemn any attack against Iraqi citizens, including Christians. We were appalled at the attack on the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad on 31 October 2010, which killed over 50 people and further attacks on 10 November, which targeted mainly Christian areas across Baghdad, killing six and wounding over 30. We welcome the recent arrests of suspects of these attacks.We will continue to press the Iraqi authorities to do all they can to bring to justice those who are responsible for this attack on innocent worshippers, and all Iraq's politicians and diverse communities to work together to tackle the threat of violent extremism.

Secondary information