Erbil (AsiaNews/Agencies) - A Kurdish ambulance driver refused to transport the
body of an Assyrian woman from the hospital to the church, saying it was
forbidden in Islam. The incident occurred in Iraqi Kurdistan, a symptom of
the country's growing ethnic-religious polarisation.
The body of the Assyrian woman, who died last Sunday at Zarkari hospital
in Erbil, had to be brought to the town of Ankawa, but the Muslim ambulance
driver refused to drive to the church because it is "haram"
(forbidden) in Islam.
Marivan Naqshbandi, media director
at the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Kurdish Regional Government in
north of Iraq, asked the Health
Ministry to open an investigation into the case.
"The Committee for promoting religious coexistence,
which was formed recently in the region, should follow up on this case to
insure that civil servants carry out their duties professionally and
impartially and not on the basis of personal religious beliefs," he said.
Insecurity and violence are rising in the country, especially after US and international
troops left in 2011.
Between April and June of this year, at least 2,500 people were killed in violent
attacks, many blamed on the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites.
On Sunday, armed groups attacked two prisons in Baghdad, Abu Ghraib and
Taji, freeing about 500 prisoners, many of whom al Qaeda members, already
sentenced to death.
The situation returned to normal after several hours of fighting in which
at least 20 police officers were killed. At
first, Iraqi authorities denied that prisoners had escaped; then admitted that "some" had.