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According to the Rev. Ken Joseph Jr., director of AssyrianChristians.com and the Assyrian Christian Assistance Center in Baghdad, Assyrian Christians in the country have met with U.S. and U.N. representatives to work on providing help to the beleaguered community, including: "reconstruction of 292 destroyed Assyrian Christian Villages, resettlement of nearly 100,000 Assyrian Christians driven out of their land by Saddam Hussein, registration for voting purposes of the community, Regional Security system and a Regional Administrative Region under article 53 of the [Iraqi] Constitution."

"We request immediate action on this … before it is too late and the indigenous people of Iraq, the Assyrian Christians, are forced to leave," said Joseph.

More on the bombings:

• Iraq insurgents hit churches, kill four U.S. troops | Explosions damaged churches in Baghdad on Saturday and the U.S. military reported the deaths of four more American troops in bomb attacks elsewhere in Iraq. (Reuters)
• Car bombs kill 5 US troops, churches targeted in Iraq | Car bombs killed five U.S. troops in Iraq, the U.S. military said Saturday. Blasts also targeted five churches in the Iraqi capital. (Pakistan Times, Pakistan)
• Iraqi churches bombed | Bombs hit five Christian churches in Baghdad and two US Army helicopters crashed, killing two American soldiers and wounding two others, as violence flared while Iraqi Muslims began their holy month of Ramadan. (South Australia Advertiser, Australia)
• Iraqi Christians struggle to stay | Insurgents bombed five Baghdad churches Saturday. A growing number of Christians are leaving Iraq. (Christian Science Monitor)
• Church bells ring in Baghdad after bombings | The strength and character of Iraqi Christians was evident Sunday when they answered the call of bells and prayed in churches that had been bombed just the day before. (Voice of America)
• Bombers target Christian churches in Iraq | bombs explode at Christian churches in Baghdad early Saturday. Meanwhile, the Army is investigating a report that 19 reservists refused to go on a mission to deliver supplies, citing concerns about danger and their safety equipment. (npr)
• Four U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq; Baghdad churches bombed | The U.S. military reported Saturday the deaths of four soldiers, and a series of coordinated early morning blasts damaged five Baghdad churches in the latest strikes against Iraq's small Christian community. (Knight Ridder Newspapers)
• Baghdad blasts rock churches, hospital, hotel; US troops ring Fallujah | Bomb blasts rocked five churches in Baghdad and a medic died when a mortar round exploded at a hospital, as US and Iraqi troops ringed the rebel hub of Fallujah amid hopes for new peace talks. (AFP)
• Blasts hit 5 churches in Baghdad | Chopper crashes claim two; U.S. jets strike Fallujah. (Associated Press)
• Flock returns to bombed-out church | Hope was reborn from the ashes of a blackened Greek Catholic church where a family held a baptism yesterday afternoon, a day after five churches in the Iraqi capital were targeted in bomb attacks. (Agence France-Presse)
• Holy month dawns as 5 churches in Iraq hit | Baghdad bombings: There were no casualties in the blasts, but it further alarms the nation's Christian minority (Associated Press)
• Christians flee renewed attacks | Many Christians stayed away from Mass in Baghdad yesterday after homemade bombs caused extensive damage at five churches in the city. (Times, London)

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October (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48