Is Al Qaeda Threat To Christians Serious?

Posted By Greg Burke On November 3, 2010 @ 8:00 AM

Just days after a brutal attack in a Catholic Church in Baghdad that killed more than 50 people, an Al Qaeda group in Iraq has declared all Christians “legitimate targets,” calling for them to be killed.

A group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq, or ISI, has labeled all Christians “idolators” in an Internet statement, which it also used to dub the Vatican a “hallucinating tyrant.”

ISI is calling for the release of two Egyptian women, wives of Coptic priests, who the group claims are being held against their will after converting to Islam.

ISI said “the killing sword will not be lifted from the necks” of Christians until its demands are met.

Christians in Egypt, whose situation in the country is delicate even in the best of times, will be on high alert after the threat.

Christians make up about 10 percent of the Egyptian population, and have often complained about discrimination in the country.

While it's hard to tell how serious the ISI threat actually is, for Christians in Egypt or elsewhere, the attack on the church in Baghdad was a body blow to the Christian community in Iraq.