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ANKAWA, Kurdistan-Iraq,
Aug 12 (Reuters) - It looks much like any other
Iraqi town, until you notice the number of shops
selling alcohol, the young women walking the streets
at night in jeans and tight T-shirts, and the church
spires.
Ankawa, a town of about 15,000 people just outside
the capital of the northern Kurdish region, is
almost entirely populated by Christians and has
become a bastion of that declining -- some say dying
-- community in mainly Muslim Iraq.
Legend says Ankawa was founded in the 2nd century by
Saint Thomas the Apostle. It is one of the oldest
Christian settlements in Iraq, a land that has deep
roots for several Christian denominations, including
Chaldeans and Assyrians.
In the early 1990s, Iraq's Christian community was
estimated at more than one million with large
populations in Baghdad, Basra and the northern city
of Mosul.
But since 1991, and particularly over the past 2 1/2
years, the community has fallen into disarray.
Christians are fearful religious violence after
churches were bombed and Muslim militants targeted
Christian-owned alcohol shops.
Many Christians have sought refuge abroad.
Father Youssef Sabri, a priest at St Joseph's
Chaldean church, maintains broad connections across
the Christian community in Iraq and says the numbers
may now have dwindled to 600,000 or less out of a
total population of around 27 million.
Far away from most of the bombs that plague the
country, Ankawa has emerged as a refuge for
Christians seeking to escape violence. It has also
become a jumping off point for those looking to flee
Iraq.
SWEDISH HONEYMOON
Around 250 families have come to Ankawa from
Baghdad, Mosul, Samarra and other towns in the past
year, according to Sabri, while hundreds more have
left, moving to Sweden, Australia, Canada, Britain
and the United States.
"People here say, 'Rather Ankawa than Baghdad',"
said Father Tariq Choucha, another Chaldean priest
in the town. "But what they really want is a visa to
go abroad and stay there."
In Ankawa, Iraqis who have fled the violence of
Baghdad can relax and plan the next stage of their
journey, knowing that at least they will not have to
take the dangerous road to Baghdad's airport.
As well as alcohol stores, Ankawa has several
restaurants, an ice-cream parlour, an Internet cafe
and antiques shops. There are two churches and three
chapels.
Foreign security companies in the area have set up
bases in the town, finding the lifestyle more
relaxed than conservative Arbil, the region's
capital. Young men and women can walk the streets
together, and their dress is as relaxed as in
Europe.
Because of the possibility of attack, and the
presence of foreigners, security is tight but there
have been no problems.
"It is a good community. We even get Arabs coming to
visit," said Paulus Danha, 52, who owns an alcohol
shop. Business is strong thanks to demand from the
security companies and international
non-governmental organisations, he said.
The town has also become richer thanks to
remittances from abroad. There are 3,000 people from
Ankawa living in Sweden, more than 2,000 in
Australia and a similar number in Canada, according
to Sabri.
Most of those who have left are young men, leaving
behind a disproportionate number of young women. But
rather than weakening the community, Sabri says it
has worked out well.
"Now we see the young men coming back to find
wives," he said, introducing a 26-year-old Iraqi now
living in Stockholm and his bride-to-be, a trainee
doctor from Ankawa.
While anxious about Iraq's wider Christian
community, Sabri, who lived in the United States for
13 years and returned to Iraq after the war in 2003,
sees some reason to hope.
"It's good for the young people for now if they are
abroad and secure, but eventually I think they will
come back," he said. "The community is strong and
Ankawa is where their hearts are."
Reuters
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