IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Christians have struggled since the Nineveh plains, their historic homeland of rolling hills dotted with wheat and barley fields, were wrested back from Islamic State extremists six years ago.
Now the shrinking religious minority that was also violently targeted by al-Qaida before the rise of IS has been rocked by yet another crisis in the form of a political showdown between two influential Christian figures — a Vatican-appointed cardinal and a militia leader, with land and influence at the core of the drama.
Sako blames a campaign against him by Rayan al-Kildani, a fellow Chaldean Christian who formed a militia called the Babylon Brigades that fought against IS and still patrols much of the Nineveh plains.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last month that the U.S. is concerned that Sako’s position “is under attack” by a militia leader who in 2019 was slapped with U.S. sanctions for his alleged involvement in human rights abuses, including cutting off a captive’s ear.
As Baghdad resident Anan al-Dawi left a sparsely attended Mass on Sunday, her main concern was a recent power outage in the scorching summer heat.
Back in the Nineveh plains, in the town of Batnaya, patrolled by members of Kildani’s militia, Lawrence Sabah owns a small factory where he makes mop handles out of wood imported from Russia.