Iraqi priest killed in gun attack

An Iraqi priest has been shot dead in a drive-by attack in central Baghad, in the latest attack on Christians in the country.

Adel Yousif was gunned down near his home in central Baghdad's prosperous Karrada district.

Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, leader of the large Chaldean Catholics denomination, said that Yousif was a member of the Syrian Orthodox church.

Delly said Iraqi Christians were shocked by the slaying, which follows the kidnap and murder of the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul and other attacks on Christians in recent months.

He said: "We are praying and asking God for security in Iraq. What can we do? How many people have been killed? Christians, Muslims, Sabaens, people who have dedicated themselves to serving this country but they are killed.

"We are ready to forgive the people who committed these crimes for the sake of the single family of Iraq."

Iraq's Christian minority has tried to avoid the sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since the US-led invasion of 2003.

But churches and Christian clergy have been targeted, especially in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul.

The Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Farraj Rahho, was kidnapped on February 29 by gunmen who killed his driver and two guards. The archbishop's body was found two weeks later despite appeals for his freedom from Pope Benedict.

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