Iraqi priest shot dead in Baghdad

Fr Adel Youssef, an Assyrian Orthodox priest, was gunned down near his home in the capital's Karrada district.

His death follows the discovery of the body of Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul last month, two weeks after he was kidnapped.

Iraqi Christians repeatedly complain of being targeted by Islamist militants, and many have fled Iraq since 2003.

Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, head of the Chaldean Catholics - Iraq's largest Christian denomination - said Iraqi Christians were shocked by Saturday's killing.

Fleeing Christians

"We are praying and asking God for security in Iraq," Cardinal Delly told Reuters.