Iraqi Christians pray for end to chaos

IRAQI Christians observed a sombre Easter Sunday, praying for an end to post-war chaos and uncertainty, as a first convoy of food aid reached Baghdad.

Australia, which joined the United States and Britain in the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, said the allies would declare victory in the next few days, but diplomatic arguments continued over Iraq’s future, and Saddam’s fate remained a mystery.

While Christians prayed, tens of thousands of Shi’ite Muslims, Iraq’s majority population, beat their chests as they streamed towards the holy central city of Kerbala, in a pilgrimage banned by Saddam for nearly a quarter of a century.