Religious freedom another casualty in Iraq

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Religious freedom is another casualty of the war in Iraq, where people of all faiths are harassed, kidnapped or even killed because of their beliefs, a U.S. government report said on Friday.

In its annual report on religious tolerance and freedom worldwide, the State Department also criticized Iran, North Korea, China and Myanmar but described usual offender and close ally Saudi Arabia as showing some improvement.

In Iraq, where about 169,000 U.S. troops are battling an insurgency and sectarian strife, the report said the fragile government's ability to protect religious freedoms was handicapped.

"Many individuals from various religious groups were targeted because of their religious identity or their secular leanings," the report said. "Such individuals were victims of harassment, intimidation, kidnappings and killings."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined to comment on the Iraq portion of the report but said in prepared remarks that religious intolerance fueled terrorism.

The report said frequent sectarian violence in Iraq included attacks on places of worship, with the most dramatic being the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra on February 22, 2006. That attack unleashed a wave of violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis.

The report did not estimate death tolls but listed scores of incidents in which suicide bombers had attacked mosques in Shi'ite and Sunni neighborhoods. Chaldean and other Christian priests were kidnapped and in some cases beheaded.

In addition, conservative and extremist Islamic elements continued to exert tremendous pressure on society to conform to their interpretations of Islam's precepts, said the report.

Although this affected both the Sunni and Shi'ite secular Muslim population, non-Muslims were particularly vulnerable because of their minority status.

The Sunni Arab community often cited police raids of its mosques and religious sites as examples of targeting by the Shi'ite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

MUTED SAUDI CRITICISM

There were also allegations the Kurdish regional government in Iraq's north discriminated against religious minorities, with Christians claiming their property had been seized.

Saudi Arabia, one of eight countries "of particular concern," showed signs of improvement even though religious freedom was still severely restricted, the report said.

The report said the government had tried to foster greater religious tolerance via public announcements and discussions.

"(Saudi) King Abdullah deserves a lot of credit," said John Hanford, U.S. ambassador at large for religious freedom.