WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Washington will do whatever it can to make sure all religious groups are free to practice safely in Iraq, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said.
The Islamic State of Iraq, a group with ties to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for an October assault on a Christian church in Baghdad. The attack killed 58 people and wounded 75 others.
The French government said it would receive more than 100 Iraqi Christians as a result of lingering sectarian conflict targeting the minority religious group.
P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said that the United States has an active resettlement program for Iraqis but added religious freedom was something that should be available to everyone.
"We spoke out very significantly last week in the aftermath of this tragedy and we continue to do whatever we can to help promote religious tolerance in Iraq and elsewhere," he told reporters in his regular press briefing.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in March that thousands of Christians were displaced from Mosul in northern Iraq because of lingering violence.
A spate of attacks rocked the Christian community of Iraq in 2008, displacing nearly half of the population.
