Fresh attacks on Christians mar Christmas celebrations

VATICAN CITY: Fresh attacks on Christians marred the Christmas holiday Saturday as Pope Benedict XVI led pleas by religious leaders for an end to persecution in Iraq and peace in the Middle East.

While record crowds flocked to Bethlehem, the Palestinian town where Jesus Christ was believed to have been born, hundreds also defied Al-Qaeda threats to pack Our Lady of Salvation cathedral in Baghdad for Christmas mass.

Although there were no immediate reports of Christians being targeted in the Middle East, bombings in other parts of the world highlighted the threats facing believers.

Seven explosions hit Jos in central Nigeria, killing 32 people and injured 74 late Christmas Eve, many as they were doing their Christmas shopping. The tense city has long been a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction.

In Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year attacked three churches, killing six people and burning down one of the churches, an army spokesman said.

A bomb rocked a church on Jolo Island in the Philippines during Christmas mass, wounding six. Officials would not immediately name any suspects but the island is a bastion of Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to Al-Qaeda.

"May the love of 'God-with-us' grant perseverance to all those Christian communities enduring discrimination and persecution, and inspire political and religious leaders to be committed to full respect for the religious freedom of all," the pope said in his Christmas Day message delivered at the Vatican.

In his Urbi et Orbi address, including greetings in 65 languages, Benedict called for respect for human rights in Afghanistan and Pakistan and an end to the turmoil in African troublespots.

He also rebuked the Communist rulers in Beijing for limitations placed on Christians living on the Chinese mainland.

But he reserved special mention for Christians living in fear in Iraq after 44 worshippers and two priests were killed in late October when militants laid siege to a church in Baghdad.

"May the comforting message of the coming of Emmanuel ease the pain and bring consolation amid their trials to the beloved Christian communities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East," he said.

In Britain, the leader of the world's Anglicans also urged people to remember those facing persecution because of their Christian faith.

"We may feel powerless to help; yet we should also know that people in such circumstances are strengthened simply by knowing they have not been forgotten," said the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.