Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7525860.stm
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has urged Christians who fled the country after the US-led invasion to return home to help rebuild the country.
Speaking after meeting Pope Benedict XVI in Italy, Mr Maliki said he asked the pontiff to encourage Christians to rejoin Iraq's social structure.
Nearly half of Iraq's estimated 800,000 Christians are believed to have left the country since 2003.
Many of those who remain have been targeted by Sunni Muslim militias.
Churches and clergymen have come under attack, as Sunni and Shia groups have battled for supremacy.
Mr Maliki said he urged the Pope "to encourage Christians who left the country to go back and be part of the social structure of Iraq again".