|PIC1|Nine thousand local language Bibles are headed for persecuted Christians in Iraq after a new campaign by Premier Radio and Open Doors raised £45,000.

Open Doors teamed up with Premier Radio over the past three weeks to encourage the station's listeners to show compassion for thousands of Christians suffering for nothing more than their faith in the Middle East.

Eddie Lyle, CEO of Open Doors UK, has said: "Small groups of Christian converts are coming into existence in villages in Kurdistan, which is northern Iraq.

"These Christians worship in local Kurdish languages, mainly Sorani and Bahdinani, but there is little literature available in these languages. Because of this, we have been asking listeners of Premier Radio to raise money to send Bibles to Christian believers in these areas.

"We have been amazed at the response from Premier Radio listeners, their generosity has been inspiring."

The Christian radio station has said it will promote Open Doors projects throughout 2007. The Chief Executive of Premier Radio, Peter Kerridge, said, "We want to thank our listeners for the huge response they've given us at the beginning of the Open Doors campaign. Each Bible distributed to Iraqi Christians has the potential to change lives.

"This is just the beginning of our year long campaign to support persecuted Christians across the globe through Open Doors. There is still much more work to be done in the Middle East and beyond. Iraq is on the edge of civil war and Kurdistan is the only area where the situation is improving."

Kerridge concluded: "As fellow believers, we must support the beginnings of a Christian community in Kurdistan every way we can."