Numerous religious leaders have made a loud call for mutual respect to be given between Muslims and Christians, and they hope that this will increase tolerance between the two. The request comes after increasing tensions between the two faiths which have made the two groups suspicious of each other all over the world, especially within Iraq.

Churches in Iraq recently were targeted by pamphleteers who commanded them to convert to Islam or leave. This was given as a clear example of how much religious intolerance has deteriorated said Canon Andrew White from the Iraqi Centre for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace.

In Mosul and Baghdad, individual Christians and churches were targeted by followers of an Iraqi militant group during a mass leaflet campaign effort two weeks ago, according to Canon White. From Jerusalem he said, “The leaflets stated that Christians must covert to Islam, leave Iraq, or face the consequences.”

Last weekend in Tripoli, a plea for inter-faith unity was made during a conference; however, this came at a time when approximately 10% of Iraq’s 800,000 Christians have already fled the country, according to the Washington Times from America.

Some churches in Iraq have complained that this fleeing of terrified Christians from the country has stripped them of more than half of their weekly congregations.

Canon White said, “The cries from Christians in Iraq are increasingly desperate.” He went on to share the story of how security guards outside an Anglican Church in Baghdad were forced to open fire on suspected attackers recently, causing the suspects to flee.

At the Tripoli conference, a senior Muslim cleric, Lhabib Belkhoja said that Muslims must face the challenge to prove that Islam is a religion of love and tolerance. He said that respect was the core of dialogue between the two different religions.