An Iraqi Catholic Archbishop has said that militant Islam could be on the rise as a result of the Arab Spring. Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said that radical Islam could become more mainstream following the protest movements. In Tunisia, Egypt and Libya popular movements have ousted their governments, but have also left uncertainties over the future of the countries. In Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, continued protests against the governments are calling for their leaders to step down. Sako said Islamic fundamentalism is threatening to “unleash” across the region. Sako said that in the Middle East, the Christian minority had “discovered a way of life, more or less positive, under state Islam.” While the governments were officially Islamic, the Christian minority had some room for freedom of worship, he argued. Sako then warned that this could change under more “militant” forms of Islam. “Fundamentalism Islam is growing and becoming an increasingly concerning phenomenon,” said the Chaldean Catholic archbishop. The connection between this militant approach and the Arab Spring uprising is “extremely dangerous,” he said. BM