The Iraqi Government has ordered security forces to increase protection for Christians in northern Iraq, where thousands have fled their homes after a wave of killings and threats.

Fighters from al-Qaeda in Iraq, a mostly home-grown extremist group, have resisted US efforts to oust them from the area, which remains among the most violent in Iraq.

"These attacks have never been seen in Mosul city. Centuries and centuries we were living together," a parliamentary deputy, Yonadam Kanna, said in an interview before he and other Christian politicians met on Sunday with the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

Mr al-Maliki's office said in a statement that he was ordering the Iraqi army and police in the Mosul area "to provide protection for members of this community" and that the security forces would "target the terrorist groups" behind the attacks.

Christians make up about 3 per cent of Iraq's population of 28 million, about half the size of the community before the 2003 US-led invasion, according to church leaders and human rights organisations.

Some Christians had moved in recent years to northern Iraq, which appeared safer. But in February the archbishop of Mosul's Chaldean Catholic community, Paulos Faraj Rahho, was kidnapped. His body turned up weeks later.

A new wave of panic has spread through the Christian community in Mosul recently as several of its members appeared to be targeted.

Aid to Christian refugees in Iraq

The United Nations refugee agency said last month that it was providing aid to thousands of Christians who fled a northern Iraqi city.

About 13,000 have been chased away by threats and attacks in Mosul this month, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

That number is more than half the community in a city where Christians have lived since the early days of the religion. Many Detroit-area Iraqi Christians trace family roots to villages near Mosul.

The UN agency has delivered relief supplies to more than 1,700 Christian families now displaced in the north of the country, Redmond said.

Pope appeals to governments to end persecution of Christians

Pope Benedict on Sunday appealed to governments and religious leaders of Iraq and India to protect Christian minorities who have been persecuted.

Speaking at his weekly address in St. Peter's Square, the pope said Christians were suffering the "tragedy" of religious oppression in countries where they have thrived for centuries.

The pope urged the international community to pay attention to the "tragedy that is happening in certain countries of the east where Christians are victims of intolerance and cruel violence, killed, threatened and forced to abandon their homes and roam in search of refuge."

"At this moment, I am thinking above all about Iraq and India," he said.

Berri urges Arabs, Muslims to protest against attacks on Iraqi Christians

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri urged Arab and Muslim leaders as well as religious authorities to protest against attacks targeting Iraqi Christians and called on the Arab League to convene in Mosul "on the level of Arab endowments ministers."

In a statement, Berri said: "We are sure that the Christians in Iraq, as well as the Muslims, are the victims of conspiracies and sectarian strife aiming to weaken the country and split it apart."

"What our brotherly Christians in Baghdad, Mosul and the Nineveh Plains have been exposed to, from persecution to killing and displacement, has bled our hearts and wounded our souls," he added. "It has made us realize that our dear Iraq is still living in a state of concern about its fate."

The head of the legislature called on Arab leaders and their religious authorities to "raise their voice" in condemnation of the attacks against Iraqi Christians, "as they have previously done to condemn attacks against Muslims."

"I also call on the Arab League to launch a quick and serious initiative to save the people of Iraq as well as its civilization and humanitarian role and preserve its ethnic and religious diversity," he added.

PM Siniora declares Lebanon's solidarity with Iraq Christians

Lebanon's Premier Fouad Siniora declared Lebanon's solidarity with Iraq's Christians last month and urged their speedy return to their homes.   

"The Lebanese people back all efforts exerted by the Iraqi government to safeguard the social fabric of the state of Iraq," a statement released to local media reported Siniora as saying to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in a phone conversation.

Recently, hundreds of Iraqi Christians have fled their homes in and around the northern-Iraqi city of Mosul. Christians have been targeted both Shi'a and Sunni Muslim militias, and also by criminal gangs.

"Christians in Iraq, as in any other Arab state, are an integral component of the national fabric," Siniora stressed.

He said the "pluralist nature of our societies is based on values and ethics from both Christianity and Islam."

Lebanon has a growing Iraqi refugee population, currently numbering between 20,000 and 40,000, according to the UN. An estimated 2 million Iraqis who have fled the violence in their country.

Lebanon's Gemayel warns against oppressing Iraqi Christians

Lebanese political figure Amin Gemayel last month warned against attacks targeting Christians in Iraq, according to media reports.

Gemayel was quoted by media as saying that a campaign targeting Iraqi Christians was "part of a campaign to displace them, similar to displacing of Palestinians" by Israel.

Thousands of Iraq Christians have fled their homes in Mosul following attacks in recent weeks. Gemayel called the attacks "racial cleansing".

Gemayel, head of Lebanon's Christian Phalange Party, said Iraq's Christians had provided the "first example of Christian-Muslim coexistence."

"What sparks suspicion is that the campaign of racial cleansing targeting Iraqi Christians is under way as the security situation in Iraq is achieving progress," he said.

He urged Lebanese leaders to form a delegation to go on a fact-finding mission to Iraq.