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Today from the US Congress: “The Rogue Militias are suffocating Christians in Iraq especially in the Nineveh Plain” *The imperative of limiting voting of quota only for Christians in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq Today in Washington, DC, I participated in a special meeting of the International Religious Freedom Summit Round Table at the US Congress building (Capitol Hill), attended by ministers and leaders from around the world, along with Dr. Hemin Hawrami, a member of the Politburo of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. In my speech as a representative of Christians in the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers and as Secretary-General of the Christian Alliance, the largest political Christian alliance in Iraq and Kurdistan, I touched on the ancient history of Christians in Mesopotamia: Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriac Aramaic , and Armenians, who were among the first Christian communities in the world. I reminded the audience that the Citadel of Erbil witnessed the ordination of a Christian bishop in the year 92 AD. I also referred to the series of genocides that Christians have been subjected to throughout history, from Sayfo, Simele, Suriya, Anfal, and the sectarian war after 2003, all the way to the terrorist attacks of ISIS. I discussed the current situation in Iraq and the Nineveh Plain, where militias continue to threaten the Christian presence and stifle this authentic component, stressing the need to expel these militias from Christian areas. I also stressed the importance of the open-door policy in the Kurdistan Region, which has become a symbol of religious and national coexistence, pointing to the transformation in the city of Ankawa from having only two churches before 2003 to more than 17 churches and monasteries today. At the end of my speech, I called on the US government and the representatives of countries present, to support the demands of the Christian coalition, which represent the demands of Christians, and to work on: • Expel the militias from the Nineveh Plain to prevent the exploitation of the sensitive situation of Christians. • Amend the parliamentary elections law in Iraq to limit voting in the Christian quota to Christians only. • Implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution to ensure the transfer of the experience of democracy and coexistence in the Kurdistan Region to the Nineveh Plain and other areas of Iraq. As the Christian Alliance, we will continue to defend the rights of all components and protect them from any threat to ensure a homeland that is spacious for all on the basis of partnership, balance, justice and true national consensus. ܐܢܘ ܓܘܗܪ ܥܒܕܘܟܐ