Iraqi Christians caught in middle of Mosul vote

MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqi Christians still reeling from a string of murders last fall find themselves caught in the middle of a power struggle between Kurds and Sunni Arabs that was fueled by this weekend's elections.

The minority community has faced years of violence and intimidation from al-Qaida in Iraq and other Islamic extremists. In the northern city of Mosul and surrounding areas, many also fear the Kurds want incorporate parts of the area into their semiautonomous region in northern Iraq.

The issue came to the fore in Saturday's vote for members of ruling councils in most of Iraq's 18 provinces. Results are not expected for days or even weeks.

But when the votes are finally counted, Kurds are expected to lose the dominance they have enjoyed here in Ninevah province since Sunni Arabs boycotted the last provincial election in 2005.

Christians will get at least one out of 37 council seats in the province, thanks to a minority quota. But many Christians are divided about whether to back the Kurds or the Sunni Arabs in their struggle for domination in Ninevah and its capital city of Mosul.

The U.S. military believes continued Kurdish-Arab tension in the north poses one of the strongest challenges to ensuring long-lasting peace in Iraq now that Shiite-Sunni violence has ebbed.

Fewer than 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people are Christians, many concentrated in Ninevah province.

Raad Shaya, a 30-year-old Christian teacher who lives in the outlying town of Batnaya, said Christians face intimidation from both sides.

Islamic extremists recently threatened him and several Christian colleagues by placing a warning inside the minibus they used to commute to work.

"The Kurds are controlling the Christians right now," he said, lowering his voice after casting his ballot on Saturday. "There's also the threat from outside Islamic political parties."

"We're not targeted because we're Christian but because we're a minority in the middle of everything," he added.

Fears spiked in the fall with a string of murders of Christians in Mosul, driving thousands of Christian families to leave their homes for the safety of Christian villages around the city. Most have drifted back but are still afraid.