According to sources from Baghdad, Iraq, a recent series of violent murders of Assyrian Christians in the Baghdad area has left many Assyrian Christians deeply concerned for their safety and well being. On July 25, 1997 the Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported that the Iraqi National Congress announced that Uday, the son of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, had shot and killed an Assyrian girl earlier in June. The Assyrian girl, Asil Salman Mansour, was last seen walking home within the predominantly Christian Doura district of Baghdad. Witnesses reported that the girl was stopped by a "presidential" vehicle and was forced into the vehicle by Uday's bodyguards. Ms. Mansour was taken to the Presidential Complex at Al Jadiriya. According to the news report, Uday tried to have sex with the girl but failed. In a subsequent fit of rage, he shot and killed the girl. Reportedly, Uday has become embittered, depressed, and easily angered since the failed assassination attempt on his life and his subsequent paralysis.

Following the girl's murder, Uday ordered the payment of $700, an Oldsmobile automobile, and a fifty dollar monthly stipend to the family as compensation for the loss of their daughter. The grief-stricken Assyrian family has been ordered not to report the incident; they have accepted the gesture out of fear of further reprisals by the government.

On the morning of July 27, 1997, three armed men entered the home of Polus Younan, a sixty-two-year-old Assyrian member of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Mr. Younan was originally born in Habbania. His home is located in the N'eriya w'Gayra' section of Baghdad and was occupied by Mr. Younan, his wife Medina Shinoel, and their 16 year old son, Maffai. Ms. Medina Shinoel survived the attack and reported her account to the police. She witnessed the repeated stabbing of her husband in the back with a large knife until the blade of the knife protruded through Mr. Younan's chest. Upon dying, Mr. Younan was rolled into sheets by one assailant as the other two attackers turned their attention to Ms. Shinoel. The attackers began striking Ms. Shinoel with the butt end of their rifles until most of her teeth were broken. Throughout the attack, the assailants demanded information regarding the family's money and savings. The attackers then started slashing Ms. Shinoel's 16-year-old son, Mattai in order to obtain more information. Since the boy is deaf and mute, he was unable to satisfy the attackers' questioning. They proceeded to slash the boy until he began to slowly lose consciousness, at which point they moved him to the bathroom and placed him in a bathtub.

In yet another murder, another Assyrian, 35 year old Yousif John Yacoub, was brutally stabbed to death on April 12, 1997 while in his home in Baghdad, Iraq. Three Arab men, employed as school guards in a nearby school, were allegedly instructed by a cleaning woman at the same school to attack and rob Mr. Yacoub. According to Mr. Yacoub's neighbors who witnessed the attack, Mr. Yacoub was stabbed in the back, neck and abdomen. The neighbors notified the police, who arrived prior to Mr. Yacoubýs death. Mr. Yacoub survived long enough to identify his attackers and to give the name of a nearby relative to be notified. The police kept Mr. Yacoub in his home for questioning while he was bleeding uncontrollably until his death. They never sought to transport him to a hospital in time to save his life. In addition, Mr. Yacoub ýs relative was never contacted. The relative heard about the incident one day later, at which point Mr. Yacoub had already died. Mr. Yacoub's relative finally arrived at the home only to find that the police had ransacked the place and removed any valuables or evidence. Two weeks later, Mr. Ameed Shurta, a high ranking police officer and member of the ruling Ba'ath party, along with his wife and children, occupied Mr. Yacoub's house. The police have refused to return any of Mr. Yacoub's possessions to the family. Mr. Yacoub's sister, a Sumerian and Akkadian scholar residing in London, England, has requested that at the very least, the family's photo albums which have great sentimental value ought to be returned. The police have refused. Mr. Yacoub's family has reported that governmental and police personnel are accomplices in this crime. The police have released the cleaning woman and have claimed that one of the attackers has escaped. The other two were reportedly held for questioning but no recent information is available regarding their whereabouts. It is suspected that because of their ties to government accomplices, they will not be punished.