ASSYRIANS
Assyrians are descendants of the ancient empires of Assyria and Babylonia.
These empires ruled over what was known as Mesopotamia, roughly the same area as modern Iraq.
Iraqi Assyrians tend to be followers of the Ancient Church of the East, the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Chaldean Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations.
Assyrians were targeted as part of the Baath regime's internal deportation programmes aimed at maintaining the Arab and Sunni dominance of the country's oil regions.
They are represented on the Iraqi Governing Council by Younadem Kana of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.