BAGHDAD —  A Christian music store owner was shot to death in Mosul, Iraqi police said Monday — the latest in a series of killings that has caused thousands of members of the religious minority to flee the northern city.

Religious leaders have called for action to stop the apparent Sunni insurgent campaign against Christians. Government officials have responded by announcing new security measures and plans to send troop reinforcements to the area.

Gunmen stormed into the businessman’s store late Sunday in an eastern part of the city, killing him and wounding his teenage nephew, according to a police officer in the regional security operations center.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.

The attack came as government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the national security council had decided to form a committee to investigate the problem.

The government also would send additional Iraqi forces to the area to assure “the Christians of the government’s commitment to their security and protection,” he said.

Violence has continued in the area despite U.S.-Iraqi operations launched in May aimed at routing insurgents from Mosul, which the U.S. military at the time dubbed Al Qaeda in Iraq’s last urban stronghold.

Christian leaders also are lobbying parliament to pass a law setting aside a number of seats for them and other minorities in upcoming provincial elections, fearing they could be further marginalized in the predominantly Muslim country.

U.N. special representative Staffan de Mistura expressed concern “at the spike in violence that has targeted the Christian communities in recent days” and warned the attacks were seeking to “fuel tensions and exacerbate instability at a critical time.”

Islamic extremists have frequently targeted Christians since the 2003 U.S. invasion, forcing tens of thousands to flee the country. Attacks had tapered off amid a drastic decline in overall violence nationwide, but concerns are rising about the deaths this month in Mosul.

There were conflicting reports about the number of Christians who have fled the city.

The senior migration and displacement official in Mosul, Jawdat Ismaeel, said the latest figures show that 1,092 families have fled the city. The number could not be independently verified. Most have left for churches, monasteries and the homes of relatives in nearby Christian villages and towns.

But the U.N. envoy said just over 500 families were being assisted in the area, adding that many of the newly displaced Christians had previously fled to Mosul to escape violence in Baghdad.

Elsewhere in Iraq on Monday, Iraqi police and witnesses said clashes broke out briefly in Baghdad’s Shiite district of Sadr City after a roadside bomb targeted a U.S. patrol. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

No serious casualties were reported. But the fighting reflected rising tensions amid U.S.-Iraqi negotiations over a security deal that would extend the presence of American forces in Iraq beyond the end of the year.

Separately, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the 4,100 British troops in southern Iraq are no longer necessary to provide security, although some might be needed for training and technical issues, a newspaper reported Monday.

“Definitely, the presence of this number of British soldiers is no longer necessary. We thank them for the role they have played, but I think that their stay is not necessary for maintaining security and control,” al-Maliki told The Times of London in an interview.

“There might be a need for their expertise in training and some technical issues, yes, but as a fighting force, I do not think it is necessary,” he said.

His comments were in line with an August report that most of Britain’s contingent in Iraq would be withdrawn over the next nine months, leaving only a few hundred soldiers there.

In July, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised a major troop withdrawal in the early months of 2009, but Britain’s military has said it’s premature to discuss specific figures.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,437122,00.html

1. May a student use a pencil or notebook with a Christian slogan or Bible verse printed on it?
Forbidding use of such items would violate the rights of free speech and religious expression of public school children.

The school may only impose reasonable regulations for maintaining order in the classroom. Using a pencil or notebook with a Christian slogan cannot in any way materially or substantially detract from classroom order. Forbidding use of such items would be a violation of the Constitutional right allowing symbolic speech.

2. May a student wear a tee-shirt or button with a religious slogan, Bible verse, or anti-abortion message printed on it?
Christian students may display religious messages on clothing to the same extent as other students are permitted to display comparable messages.

Shirts with printed messages are forms of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment. Courts have only allowed suppression of symbolic speech in public schools if it were lewd or obscene, Broussard v. Sch. Brd. of City of Norfolk (E.D. Va. 1992), or if the clothing had slogans advertising alcoholic beverages, McIntire v. Berel Sch., 804 F. Supp. 1415 (W.D. Okia. 1992).

3. May a student give out Gospel tracts or religious literature to his classmates?
Students may distribute religious tracts or literature to their schoolmates in the same manner as they would be permitted to distribute non-religious material. Schools may impose reasonable restrictions on the place and manner for distribution of all printed material, but religious literature may not be singled out for special restrictions or regulations. If the Boy Scouts or community sports team may distribute material promoting out-of-school programs, distribution of similar religious material must also be permitted.

First Amendment rights include the right to distribute Gospel tracts or other religious literature during non-instructional times. The standard that must be applied is: Does the activity materially or substantially disrupt school discipline?

The school must prove that such disruption actually occurs. ‘[U]ndifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression.’ Tinker at 508. When a student peacefully distributes tracts or other religious literature on school grounds during non-instructional time there is nothing that ‘might reasonably [lead] school authorities to forecast substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities.’ Tinker at 514.

4. May a student witness to his classmates about Jesus or pray with other students on the school campus?
School officials may not prevent students from gathering for such activities before or after school, at lunch, or during other times when students are permitted to interact with other students. Students may pray together in informal settings and may discuss their religious views with each other, subject only to the same rules of order which apply to all other student conduct and speech. Students may attempt to persuade their peers about religious and political topics, including religion and abortion, so long as such speech does not constitute harassment aimed at a particular student or group of students.

Any restrictions imposed upon student interaction must be reasonable restrictions relating to the time, place, and manner of all student behaviors, not just religious behavior. During any time in which a student is free to discuss non-instructional topics, he is free to discuss religious topics, and such freedom of speech includes the freedom to witness or to pray.

5. May a student say grace before eating his lunch?
Freedom of speech includes the freedom to pray. Students may bow their heads to pray before tests.

6. May a student read the Bible during the school day?
Any time that students are allowed to read non-instructional books, Bible reading must be permitted. This would include the hours before and after school or during lunch. It would also include study halls or any free reading hours during class time when teachers permit students to read books of their choice.

7. May students organize Bible clubs in public schools?
Public secondary schools must allow Bible clubs the same privileges as any other school club. Meetings may include prayer, Bible reading, and worship. Bible clubs must also be allowed to promote their activities through school newspapers, public address systems, and bulletin boards on the same basis as other clubs. The school must provide a room and resources for the Bible clubs. The only difference the Court allowed between Bible clubs and other clubs is that the faculty sponsor may not control the Bible club. The faculty sponsor must merely ensure that the club follows school policies, since any official control by the faculty members of religious activities of the club could be an establishment of religion. The club must be student-led, and students may occasionally invite outside community religious leaders to speak.

8. May students write book reports or English themes or do oral assignments based on religious subjects?
Students may express their religious beliefs in homework, artwork, or any other written or oral assignment. Such home and classroom work must be judged by teachers using ordinary academic standards, and religious topics may not be discriminated against or singled out for special restrictions. This would include the right to present a religious topic in a show-and-tell exercise as well as in a book report or speech assignment to be delivered to the class. It would not be unconstitutional for a teacher to allow students to share their personal religious viewpoints in the classroom at appropriate times or in appropriate assignments. The teacher may constitutionally permit religious students to share their views if the views of all other students are also allowed.

9. May Christian students be excused from participation in activities they find objectionable?
If a particular lesson or activity would substantially burden a student’s free exercise of religion, and if the school cannot prove a compelling interest in requiring attendance, the school is legally required to excuse the student from that lesson or activity.

10. May student graduation speakers mention their Christian faith and/or read from the Bible?
If students such as valedictorians or salutatorians are allowed to compose their own speeches, the speeches may only be censored for lewd or obscene speech. A governmental body, such as a school, may not censor the speech of private individuals merely because that speech contains a religious perspective.

Courts have upheld the right of a majority of students to act on their own to incorporate prayer into the graduation exercises if it is student-led and the content is not controlled by school officials. Jones v. Clear Creek Ind. Sc. Dist., 977 F.2d 963 (5th Cir. 1992) (]ones II).

11. May baccalaureate services still be held?
Baccalaureate services may still be held if they are sponsored by a private group rather than by the school. These private baccalaureate services may be held in school facilities if those facilities are generally open to use by other private groups.

12. May public schools teach about religion?
While public schools may not directly provide religious instruction on the school campus, school officials have substantial discretion to dismiss students to participate in off-premises religious instruction provided that they do not encourage or discourage participation and do not penalize students who choose not to participate. Additionally, public schools may teach about religion, including material about the Bible and other religious material, the history of religion, comparative religion, Biblical literature, and the role of religion in American history and in the history of other countries.

While schools must express neutrality toward particular religions, teachers may also actively teach civil values and virtue, as well as the moral codes which hold communities together, even if these values are also those held by particular religious groups. Public schools may also teach about religious holidays, including their religious aspects. Schools may not, however, observe religious holidays except with respect to secular aspects of those holidays.