Hundreds protest Iraq's Christian killings

(AA) - Bearing bloodied crucifixes and photos of murdered children, hundreds of protesters have gathered in Sydney to demand the Australian government helps persecuted Christians in Iraq.

A sea of Assyrian and Iraqi flags waved through Martin Place on Tuesday, as about
500 protesters chanted "stop the violence, stop the killing".
Christians in Iraq have been systematically attacked by Islamic militants since the
2003 coalition-led invasion of Iraq and the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.
On Wednesday, three Christians were killed and 26 wounded when their homes were
bombed in Baghdad.
Last month, 58 Christians, including children and priests, were murdered during
evening mass when their Syrian Catholic church in Baghdad was stormed by al-Qaeda
linked militants.
The massacre was re-enacted on Tuesday by a group of young people who lay on the
concrete covered in fake bloody wounds in front of photos of the murder victims.
Rally organiser Raymond Elishapour said the Australian government must intervene
before the Christian minority, many of whom have fled Iraq to neighbouring Jordan
and Syria, is "completely wiped out".
"Ever since 2003 with the invasion of the Coalition of the Willing, the Australians,
the UK and the Americans, many forces have mobilised against (the Christians) to try
and wipe them out," Mr Elishapour told AAP.
"Before the invasion, there was 1.2 million (Christians) there. Now, they've been
reduced to 300,000 and 400,000.
"Give it another year or so, they'll be completely wiped out.
"We are contending that this is genocide, and Australia, as the invading force, has
a responsibility to these people."
Mr Elishapour said the war had breathed new life into groups that had been
suppressed under Saddam's regime.
Fundamentalist Islamic groups are now trying to "ethnically cleanse" indigenous
minority groups such as the Syriacs, Assyrians and Chaldeans because they are
Christians and are not Arabs, Mr Elishapour said.
"There are many people there that are not only being wiped out but who want to seek
asylum on Australian shores that are being subjected to long bureaucratic
processes," he said.
"They're being caught up in violence that they can't escape.
"Australia is liable because they were involved in causing the destabilisation (in
Iraq) that has aggravated the circumstances for these people.
"There's a very legitimate fear of violence and death for those people and they
shouldn't be made to wait."