Iraqi Christians say forced to flee Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Christians fleeing attacks in the northern city of Mosul on Monday pleaded for protection from what they described as a systematic plan to drive them out of the area.

Kana'an Bahnam, a 58-year-old Christian, fled ethnically mixed Mosul with his family in the middle of the night, in disguise and with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

"There are secret hands trying to promote division and strife between Muslims and Christians," he said.

Jawdat Ismail, a top official with the Displacement and Migration Ministry in Mosul, said that 1,307 Christian families had left their homes in the city, 390 km north of Baghdad, for towns and villages nearby.

"It's a systematic, planned scheme that aims to empty Mosul of all Christians," said Yousif Gorgees, a Christian who has been helping others reach Qaraqush, a nearby Christian town.

Officials say between five and 14 Christians have been killed in Mosul in recent days, a trend that has worried the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Muslim. Houses have been blown up and shopkeepers have been shot.

Maliki has ordered an investigation and vowed to protect Christians in Mosul, long known as one of Iraq's most tolerant cities and home to an ethnic mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, including Muslims, Christians and other small minority sects.

It remains unclear who is behind the violence, but at least some Iraqi Christians see an official hand in the attacks.

Sabah Yaqou, a government health worker, escaped to the nearby town of Hamdaniya, where he and his family have squeezed into his brother's home.