Syriac Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan travelled to Washington to meet US government representatives to highlight the plight of Christians in Mosul.<\/p>\n
He spoke out about the \u201cmass cleansing\u201d\u009d of Christians from the Iraqi city by what he called \u201ca bed of criminals\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wonder how could those criminals, this bed of criminals, cross the border from Syria into Mosul and occupy the whole city of Mosul \u201d\u00a6 imposing on the population their Shariah (law) without any knowledge of the international community,\u201d\u009d he said on Friday, referring to Islamic State fighters, formerly known by the acronyms ISIS or ISIL.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened is really kind of a cleansing based on religion. You have heard about what they did: proclaim \u201d\u201d they announced publicly with street microphones, the ISIS \u201d\u201d there\u2019s no more room for Christians in Mosul, that they either have to convert, pay tax, or just leave. And they have been leaving now since then with absolutely nothing,\u201d\u009d he added.<\/p>\n