THE Government and multinational forces in Iraq have done too little to protect Christians, the Chaldean Patriarchate's auxiliary bishop has said, writes Ellen Teague.

Referring particularly to Christians living in the Dora neighbourhood of Baghdad, Bishop Shlimon Warduni this week accused security forces of "looking on idly" while many homes had been raided and occupied by armed gangs. "The Government and the multinational forces take absolutely no responsibility for ensuring the safety of these families, despite the appeals and requests of Christian members of parliament. Even though we have knocked on all doors and appealed to the Government and to religious leaders of all faiths, we have heard only kindly words but in reality not a thing has been done. In fact the situation is worsening," the bishop said.

Half of Dora's Christians, threatened and ordered to convert to Islam, have already fled. "This is a full-scale persecution," the bishop commented. Archbishop Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil, the Rome representative of the Syrian Catholic Church, said this week that minority Christians are in danger "of seeing their historic churches disappear".

Meanwhile, a Chaldean priest who was abducted in Baghdad has been released after 12 days, and is reportedly in good health. Fr Hani Abdel Ahad, 33, priest at the Wisdom Chaldean Church, was released on Monday. A "big ransom" had been demanded, AsiaNews reported.

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