Ten years after the Iraqi invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds have yet to find a stable power-sharing deal and there is escalating ethnic violence. Iraq’s Sunnis, who resent their treatment by Shiite Mr Maliki’s government, have staged mass protests since December. Sunni militants, some of them linked to al-Qaeda, have exploited the unrest urging Sunnis to take up arms. More than 700 people died violently in Iraq in April which according to the United Nations is the highest monthly figure in almost five years. The conflict in Syria where mostly Sunni rebels are fighting to topple president Bashar al-Assad is turning in part into a regional proxy war between Sunni and Shiite powers. Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah group is now openly fighting alongside Mr al-Assad’s forces which are dominated by members of his minority Shiite-linked Alawite sect. The result of years of unrest in the region has produced millions of refugees, many of them Christian.

Pray: against religious and ethnic violence. Pray for better provision for orphans, widows and those suffering because of events outside their control. (Ja.1:26,27)

More: http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/politics/iraq-violence-grows-with-fresh-wave-of-car-