Ennahda movement in Tunisia condemns displacement of Christians in Iraq

Tunisia’s Ennahda movement denounced on Thursday what it described as “the crime of displacing Christians from the city of Mosul, in northern Iraq, and emptying the city of an integral part of the population by the Islamic State, or ISIS,” Al-Alam Online reported.

The movement said in a statement: “The Islamic principle confirms that there is no compulsion in religion and therefore what happens in Iraq in the name of Islam is contrary to the true religion, which is based on the principle of freedom of religion and belief.”

The movement called “to unite all efforts, especially those of the nation’s religious scholars, to resist the calls of sedition and division in Arab societies”.

Parliamentarian Younadim Kenna said on Thursday during a press conference in the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad that nearly 150,000 Christians had fled Mosul fearing ISIS threats.

ISIS declared on 29 June that it was establishing an “Islamic State” in the territories of Syria and Iraq under its control. ISIS fighters have become well known for terrorising minorities.