[1/2] Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is exhibited, following his visit to Rome, in Baghdad, Iraq, June 18, 2023. REUTERS/Ahmed SaadJuly 20 (Reuters) - Iraq's president said late on Wednesday he would summon the United States ambassador to Baghdad over critical remarks by a U.S. State Department spokesperson regarding the Iraqi government's treatment of a top Iraqi Christian leader. "I will say we are disturbed by the harassment of Cardinal Sako ... and troubled by the news that he has left Baghdad," Miller told a press briefing. The Iraqi Christian community is a vital part of Iraq's identity and a central part of Iraq's history of diversity and tolerance," Miller said. Rashid was "disappointed by accusations leveled against the Iraqi government" by Miller and so would summon the ambassador, a presidency statement said.

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Persons: Abdul Latif Rashid, Ahmed Saad, Matthew Miller, Cardinal Louis Sako, Sako, Pope Francis, Rashid's, Cardinal Sako, Miller, Rashid, Hatem Maher, Timour, Timour Azhari, Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . State Department, State Department, Chaldean Catholic, Iraqi, Vatican Embassy, Chaldean, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome, Baghdad, Iraq, United States, Iraqi, U.S, Iran, Iraq's, Kurdistan, Vatican, Islamic State