Nouri Maliki asks pope to urge Christians to return to Iraq

"I . . . appealed to his holiness to encourage Christians who left the country to go back and be part of the social structure of Iraq again," Maliki told reporters after his session with the pope at the pontiff's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.

More than five years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the country remains deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines and is struggling to put an end to the violence that has characterized the post-Saddam Hussein era.

"His visit would represent support for the efforts of love and peace in Iraq," said Maliki, who has been visiting Germany and Italy this week.

The pope condemned the violence suffered by the Iraqi people and lamented the plight of Iraqi refugees, saying he hoped they could one day return to their homeland. He stressed the importance of inter-religious dialogue and made a special appeal in behalf of Iraq's minority Christians, frequent targets of attacks and kidnappings, saying they were in grave need of better security.

The pope "renewed his condemnation of the violence that hits diverse parts of the country almost every day, without sparing the Christian community, which strongly feels a need for greater security," a statement from the Vatican said.

He also "expressed the hope that Iraq can decisively find the way to peace and development through dialogue and the collaboration of all ethnic and religious groups, including minorities."

Maliki bristled at the notion that Christians were targeted any more than Muslims in Iraq's sectarian violence. Maliki said the pope understands that "bad people exist in all religions, whether Christian or Muslim."

"This sound, realistic, objective understanding by his holiness is the best answer to those who claim that Christians are persecuted in Iraq by Muslims," the prime minister told reporters.

Iraq's Christian minority has been targeted by Sunni Arab militants, who have viewed its members as American allies and heretics. In 2007, Christian residents were expelled from the Baghdad suburb of Dora by Al Qaeda in Iraq sympathizers. In late February, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of the northern city of Mosul was kidnapped; he was found dead two weeks later.