Even though they have been living in Iraq for two millennia, Christians are increasingly being targeted by both sides of the Shia-Sunni divide.  Many are fleeing to the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.  Although safer in Kurdistan than in central and southern Iraq, their lives are still at risk.

Sunday evenings in this quiet Christian town [Ainkawa] in the north of Iraq have a serene feel about them. As the light fades, parishioners gather on the steps of St. Elias's church, congratulating the priest on that day's sermon. Their children play in the adjacent park beneath a giant artificial tree with the number "2007" on it.

If it weren't for the two men with Kalashnikov rifles standing guard over it all, it could be a scene outside a church anywhere in the world.

Iraq's Christians, however, are a community under siege. Few of those who attend mass at St. Elias's are residents of Ainkawa, which is part of the country's Kurdish autonomous region.

St Elias has recently begun a Sunday evening mass in Arabic for the benefit of refugees from southern Iraq.  The two main churches in town also conduct six Sunday services in Aramaic.  All are filled to capacity.

Father Tariq Choucha of St. George's parish in Ainkawa points out the tragic irony of struggling Iraqi Christians.

"We have been in this country longer than the Muslims," he said. "But we are overwhelmed now."

The plight of Christians in Iraq has been largely ignored by Western Christians.

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