PATRIOTIC UNION OF KURDISTAN

BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

August 2, 2004

PRESS RELEASE

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) unequivocally condemns the terrorist attacks upon Christians and their places of worship in Iraq. We send our condolences to the victims and their families.

Yet again the terrorists, who claim to be acting in the name of religion, have committed an act of sacrilege. By targeting Christians and their churches on their day of worship, the terrorists have again demonstrated their utter contempt for the most basic principles of humanity. The terrorists have also attacked Muslims and Muslim shrines on Islamic holy days.

The PUK knows that its fellow Iraqi democrats from all the nations and communities of Iraq will wish to associate themselves with our utter condemnation of these acts of terrorism. These are not acts of "resistance", but of blasphemy and hatred. Terrorism is a barbaric and unacceptable tactic. There is no room for terrorism in the new Iraq and we will continue to work with our allies in Iraq and the Coalition to defeat the terrorists.

The Christians are an authentic and vital element of the diverse fabric of Iraq. The Transitional Administrative Law, Iraq's interim constitution, recognizes the diversity of Iraq and the full and equal rights of all Iraqi citizens of all communities, such as the right of our Christian brothers and sisters to educate their children in their mother tongues. Terrorism against our Christian compatriots is an assault upon those fundamental rights and our shared democratic values.