"It is better for us to die with dignity than to live and be despised." A bitter comment given to the SIR by Mgr Shlemon Warduni, patriarchal vicar of Baghdad, on the news of today’s approval by the parliament of the law on provincial councils whose text is actually allocating only six seats to minorities, namely three to Christians, one to Baghdad and one to Ninive and Bassora. With this decision the Christian minority is deprived of ten seats. Unfortunately, we have not received all we were promised by high state officials. We were given a drop of water, they want us to die of thirst. We are thirsting for rights. And the world keeps silent. This is our democracy: they call it respect of human rights. They said they have come to bring us democracy but here is our democracy. They want us to be expelled from Iraq."
