Iraqi bishop says government must work harder for security after Sunday’s attacks

(October 27, 2009) An Iraqi bishop has described Sunday’s deadly suicide bomb attacks in Baghdad as an incredible massacre. An al Qaeda-linked group has said it carried out the attack that killed 155 people, saying they had targeted the Justice Ministry and a Baghdad provincial assembly building. Bishop Shlemon Warduni Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad told Italian bishops’ SIR news agency that the attack could have been to poison the political climate in the run-up to the January election. Noting that the attack was in one of the safest and most protected areas of Baghdad, Bishop Warduni said, “The government will certainly have to work harder to enable the law to triumph.” “But,” he said, “these actions will not stop unless there is a widespread peace achieved through everyone’s cooperation.” “Politics must serve the interest of all of Iraq, not just part of it,” he said. Bishop Warduni said Iraq’s Chaldean Church was joining the nation in the three days’ national mourning proclaimed by the Government, and would pray for the victims of such terrorist attacks.