Baghdad mayor meets Christian and minority endowment chief on religious site services

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Baghdad Mayor Ammar Musa Kazim met with Rami Josef Aghajan, head of the endowments directorate for Christian, Yezidi and Sabean-Mandaean faiths, to discuss expanding joint work on services for places of worship in the capital. The meeting at the mayor's office focused on supporting service delivery to religious sites and their surrounding areas across Baghdad. Kazim said Baghdad would remain a city for all of its residents, including children of every faith and community, according to a statement from the mayor's office. He also noted that development work in the capital's historic and older districts is continuing, with efforts aimed at preserving the identity of the al-Batavin area and revitalizing its service infrastructure. The mayor congratulated the Sabean-Mandaean community on the Little Feast, known locally as the Feast of Blessings and Mercy. He reiterated the Baghdad Municipality's commitment to mobilizing all available resources to support the endowments directorate's work, and said both sides agreed that strengthening interfaith harmony and coexistence in the capital is a shared goal.