Easter Service In Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) - There aren't that many Christians left in Iraq
but they took advantage of improved security today to celebrate
Easter.
The observances came even as a roadside bomb claimed the life of
an American soldier.
About 200 Iraqi Christians packed into the Virgin Mary Church in
Baghdad's Karradah district, once a predominantly Christian area
but now largely Shiite.
Across the city in Baghdad's upscale Mansour district, Chaldean
Cardinal Emmanuel II Delly delivered an Easter service broadcast on
state television.
In the southern city of Basra, where calm has long prevailed,
about 500 Christians congregated at the Virgin Mary Church,
believed to be the largest attendance there since 2003.
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq, Christians have frequently
been the target of attacks by Islamic extremists, and tens of
thousands have fled.
The American's death today is the sixth U.S. combat death in the
last three days.
Meanwhile, at the US military base Camp Victory just outside the Iraqi
capital, American troops also attended an Easter service. The US military
chaplain, Jeff Mitchell, said that about 100 soldiers attended the annual sunrise
service.