ADM

"Christians today will persist with their faith and resilience," he said after a meeting at the headquarters of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.

The Assyrian Democratic Movement spent some twenty years raising funds for their military wing (Qrawtan) but when D-Day came, they were nowhere to be seen.

The meeting was a follow-up to previous meetings between the UALM and members of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. The meeting was also attended by the SSNP and the Lebanese Communist party as well and community leaders and members of the Iraqi and Lebanese community.

ARBIL / Aswat al-Iraq: A leader at the Assyrian Democratic Movement described the recent violent events in Duhuk province as "negative indicator for the Christian presence in the province".

MP Yonadam Kanna, head of the Al Rafidain National List (which represents the Assyrian Democratic Movement) and also a member of Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya Coalition, said that "the meeting between President Talabani and coalition heads will be centered around the Erbil agreement, which was launched last year.

Younadim Kanna, head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the only Christian member of parliament, said the Presidency Council was recommending to parliament that the measure dealing with minorities be reinstated.

The delegation includes representatives of the Islamic Dawa Party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement, the Islamic Virtue Party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

One of the main backers behind The Jesus Conspiracy is Albert Michael, a London-based businessman who is campaigning for the largest Christian movement in Iraq, the Assyrian Democratic Movement.

"Assyrians need security, so we need a legal army within the Iraqi army to protect ourselves," said Michael Benjamin of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. "We do not want to transform our movement into a militia," commented another spokesman, Yonadem Karma, "but if we need to we can arm more than 10,000 people."

* Younadem Kana--A member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (a movement representing the Assyrian Christian community) and an engineer who served as an official for transport in the first Kurdish regional assembly and later a trade minister in the regional government established in Erbil.

In Syria today, the local branch of the Iraq-based Assyrian Democratic Movement has been a part of the opposition Syrian National Council since the beginning of the unrest in March of last year.

Michael Benyamin of Zaho Assyrian Democratic Movement pointed that that "these actions will negatively affect the democratic process in Kurdistan", pointing that "the Christians are changing views thatKurdistanis a safe haven for them".