BBC News,
AP and the
New York Times reported Friday that almost all Christians have left the Iraqi city of Mosul after a statement from the radical group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant was read at the city's mosques. The statement gave Christians the choice of conversion, paying a traditional fee for protection (
jizya) or death, with a deadline of noon Saturday. The statement said in part:
We offer them three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract - involving payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the sword,