An Iraqi archbishop spoke of "near-genocide conditions" for Christians in his country and said those fleeing violence were straining resources in other parts of the country.

At a March 16 news conference in Ireland, Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, criticized "neighbouring governments feeding insurgents with money and weapons to destabilize the Iraqi government."

Warda said that since the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq began in 2003, more than 500 Christians had been killed in religious and politically motivated violence.