Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Baghdad (Fides Service) - “We are overjoyed that so many people went to vote demonstrating an earnest desire for democracy. But this was only the first step: now terrorism must be stopped and our people’s security must be guaranteed” a lay Catholic in Baghdad who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons told Fides.
In a testimonial to Fides he said “It should be said that some Christians were too afraid to vote for fear of attacks. In fact in recent months Christians have been targeted by fundamentalist Islamists intent on Islamising the country. The eleven lists of Christian candidates were voted mainly by Iraqi citizens in America and Europe. Now we Iraqi Christians expect democracy to mean respect for equal rights and freedom to believe and practice. Today with fundamentalists groups which terrorise our people, this right is not guaranteed. This means we still need the presence of foreign troops; their presence is necessary to prevent civil war”.
The layman, a catechist in Baghdad, concludes: “We shall now wait and see how things develop in the coming months: it will take time to restore harmony among the different components of Iraqi society to form one new nation. One major challenge is to restructure the school system and guarantee instruction for every child. This is essential after years of violence and war in order to educate the young generation to values of respect for others, harmony, tolerance .
In the meantime the International Organisation for Migration IOM which organised the vote for Iraqi communities in 14 other countries, announced that 93.6% of the eligible overseas voters, that is 265,148 persons, cast their vote.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 1/02/2005 Righe: 27 Parole: 289)
