Christians Under Attack

The 40-year-old priest, Youssef Adel, was shot by gunmen who drove up in a car and opened fire as he was opening the gate of his house in a Christian enclave near the St. Peter and Paul church where he presided, an assistant said.

Christians have frequently been caught up in the violence or been targeted in this predominantly Muslim country.

The body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, one of Iraq's most senior Chaldean Catholic clerics, was found on March 13, about two weeks after he was seized by gunmen in the volatile northwestern city of Mosul.

Pope Benedict XVI expressed his deep pain over Adel's killing.

A telegram cited by Vatican Radio said the Roman Catholic pope was praying that "the Iraqi people find the way of peace to build a just and tolerant society."

Benedict has frequently expressed concern about the plight of Christians caught in the sectarian crossfire in Iraq.

Adel's assistant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the attack occurred about 11:30 a.m. and the gunmen fled the area in a car after the shooting.

He said the priest, who was married but had no children, directed a religiously mixed school for Muslims and Christians at the church. The funeral was scheduled for Sunday.

Adel was an engineer but became a priest about six years ago, the assistant said. He previously served in a church in the predominantly Sunni area of Dora in southern Baghdad but moved to the central district of Karradah after a series of attacks in the former insurgent stronghold.

The assistant said Adel was a compassionate man who preached about love and peace and was heavily involved in helping orphans and widows in his church.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, a bomb exploded on a minibus carrying morning commuters on the busy Palestine Street, killing at least four passengers and wounding 15, police said.

The victims were primarily workers and vendors from the Sadr City district who were on their way to commercial districts elsewhere in the capital.

Gunmen also killed a senior police officer and wounding two of his guards in eastern Baghdad, police said.

In northern Iraq, four Kurdish officers of the oil facilities protection agency were killed in an ambush in Khanaqin, near the Iranian border, according to Capt. Sarechel Abdul Kareem of the border police.

The killings underscored the dangers that continue to face Iraqis in Baghdad and elsewhere as attacks persist despite a sharp decline in violence over recent months amid a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown.

The Iraqi government, meanwhile, eased security measures in two Baghdad neighborhoods that are strongholds of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia — Sadr City and Shula — amid complaints of food shortages nearly a week after the radical Shiite cleric issued a cease-fire order.

Trucks carrying maintenance teams, food, oil products and ambulances are now allowed to get into the areas, according to a statement issued by Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Baghdad's chief Iraqi military spokesman.

The areas — including Sadr City, which is home to some 2.5 million Shiites and the militia's largest base — have suffered as a vehicle ban remained effect despite the lifting of a curfew elsewhere in the capital earlier this week.

While al-Sadr's order put an end to large-scale fighting that broke out over a government crackdown in the southern city of Basra, clashes have continued between his fighters and Iraqi security forces.

Sporadic gunfire could still be heard in Basra, although it was relatively calm as aid workers delivered humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered residents.

The U.S. military said Saturday that a helicopter had launched a precision airstrike the day before to support Iraqi troops who came under fire, killing a gunman in the militia stronghold of Hayaniyah.

Police said five people were killed in the strike but acknowledged they included an unspecified number of militants who had fired a mortar at Iraqi security forces.

A series of airstrikes have targeted suspected militant positions since the fighting erupted on March 25, drawing American and British forces into the battle and casting further doubt on the ability of Iraqi forces to take over their own security.

The White House has conditioned further U.S. troop withdrawals on the readiness of the Iraqi military and police.

Al-Maliki had suggested he planned similar crackdowns in Sadr City and Shula earlier this week, but instead he ordered a nationwide freeze on Iraqi raids against Shiite militants on Friday.

The reversal came after al-Sadr hinted at retaliation if Iraqi security forces continue to arrest his followers.

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Bushra Juhi contributed to this report.

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