The Diplomat. Madrid
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Manuel García-Margallo, met a group of Iraqi widows yesterday, who have travelled to Spain, invited by the association Exodus, with the objective of sensitizing the public opinion, through their testimony, to the persecution suffered by the members of the Christian minorities in the Middle East.
Margallo was interested in the personal experiences of these women, who, along with many others and their families, are “persecuted and harassed because of their religious beliefs”. The minister highlighted the importance of maintaining the cultural and religious diversity of the Middle East and enabling the members of those minorities to return to their places of origin safely and on conditions of equality.
In that regard, he remembered that Spain plays a fundamental role in international initiatives, such as the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), and it supports, in different international forums, all those actions defending the complete exercise of the freedom of religion and beliefs, especially those related to the protection of members of religious minorities.
