Will Biden Back New Iraq Province for Persecuted Christians? - News Max

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Will Biden Back New Iraq Province for Persecuted Christians?

By John Gizzi
Newsmax
Posted 2016-09-13 18:32 GMT

A leading human rights group is proposing a new homeland within Iraq for Christians and other displaced groups -- an idea similar to the federated Iraqi state conceived by Vice President Joe Biden when he was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2006.

The idea to carve out a secure province within the strife-torn nation was discussed last week during a three-day conference in Washington, D.C., organized by advocacy group In Defense of Christians.

Neither Biden nor any other member of the Obama administration has commented on the idea.

"A new province of 1,600 square miles would allow [displaced peoples] to return home," said Robert Nicholson, executive director of the Philos Project, which is the leading force behind the proposed province known as the Ninevah Plain.

He added that the Iraqi government headed by Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi supports the new province concept and the idea of decentralization, or "pushing power to the local level."

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Calling on the administration to embrace the policy, Swett warned: "if the U.S. doesn't lead, nothing will happen."

Read More At: http://aina.org/news/20160913143229.htm