U.S.President-elect must do all he can to protect Iraqi minorities, says Archbishop of Bagdad

(Nov.12,2008):-President-elect Barack Obama must do all he can to protect the rights of minorities in Iraq, said the Archbishop of Bagdad. "Pressure needs to be put on the government in Iraq to respect the needs not only of Christians but all minorities," said Latin-rite Archbishop Jean Sleiman on Tuesday in a telephone interview with the U.K. branch of "Aid to the Church in Need," a Catholic charity that helps persecuted Christians.
In October, approximately 15,000 Christians from the northern city of Mosul fled their homes amid a campaign of violence against them. “I hope that the U.S. will encourage Iraq to improve and become a country, where the rule of law is upheld, where there is equality and where human rights are at the heart of the constitution," he said. The archbishop said that among people in Iraq he "did not detect a real enthusiasm for Obama. People here think that a change in president will not bring about a change in strategy -- maybe in style," he said.