Jewish Iraqi meets with US president Bush 

An exiled representative of the Iraqi Jewish community has been received by US president George W. Bush to discuss the rights of religious minorities in Iraq. Maurice Shohet of Congregation Bene Naharayim in New York met Bush in the White House on Tuesday, before the president spoke on democratic initiatives in the Middle East. Shohet told the news agency JTA that the president had been curious about the number of Jews left in Iraq, which currently stood at 20, he said. Bush agreed on the need to include provisions for the rights of minorities in Iraq’s new constitution. Shohet was one of nine Iraqi Americans from different ethnic backgrounds who Bush recognized for voting in Iraq’s January elections.