The World Alliance of Reformed Churches this week sent a team to Baghdad to affirm the solidarity of the worldwide Reformed family with the people of Iraq.

"Our purpose is to affirm our fellowship with our Iraqi Christian brothers and sisters - and their Muslim neighbours," says Rev. Dr Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the Alliance.

The Alliance team found that for many in Iraq the threat of war has further reduced the quality of life - already under severe pressure as the result of twelve years of punitive sanctions. The Gulf war and the earlier war with Iran continue to have a destructive impact. The children suffering from leukaemia that the delegation visited were just one sign of how devastating war has already been for the people of Iraq.

"People of faith in this country are raising many questions of where justice lies and calling for prayers for peace," the team reports.

In response, Rev. Professor Margaretha Hendriks of the Protestant Church of Maluku shared a solidarity statement by Indonesian Christian and Muslim religious leaders with the Iraqi people, and Professor Olivia Masih White of the United Church of Christ (USA) shared statements from US churches opposing war.

Christian and Muslim leaders told Rev. John Paarlberg of the Reformed Church in America who lives in New York City how their hearts went out to the people of his city following the September 11 terror attacks. Under the threat of a pitiless war, Iraqis are confronted with the same question, "Why must innocent people suffer?"

The team and all with whom they met agreed that war offered no solution to the problems of the people in Iraq or elsewhere in the world and would not contribute to world peace.

"We felt the pain of the people of Iraq, and saw the devastation caused by the wars they have been through and the sanctions still in place," the team said. "Everything points to the senselessness and callousness of war at this time. The victims will be poor innocent civilians of Iraq and the region."

"The team adds its voice to the ordinary people of Iraq and the millions of people who continue to march in many cities around the world for peace. We also call attention to the voices urging that the UN weapons inspectors be allowed sufficient time to complete their work."

Setri Nyomi, who led the four-person visit, said that the intention was pastoral. They wished to signal to the Iraqi people, Christian and Muslim alike, that Christians around the world are united with them in care and compassion.

A second purpose was to underline that the war that the US administration and its close allies seem determined to fight is not, for the world church, a battle between a "Christian West" and a "Muslim East".

"We do not subscribe to any interpretation of this conflict as Christian against Muslim," said Nyomi, who is also a president of the World Conference of Religions for Peace.

It was also important to encourage US and other churches in their opposition to the planned war.

The visit was facilitated by the Middle East Council of Churches offices in Cyprus, Jordan and Iraq.

"We are deeply grateful to the Middle East Council of Churches for all it did to coordinate our visit," Nyomi said. "Even in the short time we were there, we could see the pivotal role it is playing in strengthening the ministry of the churches in this critical time in Iraq and the surrounding region. The good relationships it fosters with people of other faiths is also helpful as a public witness against the forces of war."

The members of the Alliance team were

Rev. Dr Setri Nyomi of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, general secretary of the Alliance,
Rev. Professor Margaretha Hendriks of the Protestant Church of Maluku (Indonesia),
Rev. John Paarlberg, Minister for Social Witness of the Reformed Church in America, and
Professor Olivia Masih White of the United Church of Christ, a vice-president of the Alliance.

The Alliance team has issued a statement opposing the proposed war on Iraq and is joining with Iraqi Christians in a call for prayers for peace on Sunday February 23.