China: Crackdown on House Churches
In January 2004, top cadres of China’s Religious Affairs Bureau and the policy-making United Front Work Department met for the annual National Religious Working Conference.
Security
Indonesia Orders Tighter Security for Churches this Christmas
DUBLIN, December 22 (Compass) — Police in Indonesia pledged today to provide tighter security for churches during Christmas and New Year celebrations, after one of their own was arrested in connection with the murder of a Christian village chief on the island of Sulawesi.
Egyptian Christian Captured at Libyan Border
A Coptic Christian secretly married to a woman convert from Islam was arrested for the second time last week while trying to leave Egypt for Canada.
Turkmenistan: Religious Minorities Effectively Banned
It was back in 1999 that the Turkmenistan government declared its intention to “strangle minority faiths. All foreign Christians were expelled and the persecution of national believers, especially ethnic Turkmen, intensified intolerably.
Egypt Christians Wounded in Muslim Violence
“Numerous Christian individuals” in Egypt and their properties were attacked by nearby Muslims angry over plans to found a church, an organization representing Egyptian believers confirmed Tuesday Nov. 18.
17 OF 22 Egypt Christians Released, But One Dies
17 of 22 Christian converts who were arrested in Alexandria late October, have been granted bail but one of them died and others still in prison suffer “degradation and abuse,” a human rights group said Thursday, Nov. 13.
Iraq’s Revival: Christians Risk Their Lives for Church
Iraqi Christians who have become targets of attacks by Muslim extremists and bandits are risking their lives to attend church services, ASSIST News Service (ANS) has established.
Arrested Chinese believers located; families still not notified
The location where two Chinese house-church Christians are being held has been revealed by a Voice of the Martyrs source within the Chinese government.
Kabul Court To Resume Christians’ Trial Saturday
ISTANBUL, September 27 (Compass) — The Taliban Supreme Court announced it will resume trial proceedings on Saturday against eight Western aid workers who have been jailed in the Afghan capital for the past two months on charges of preaching Christianity.
Afghan Trial Resumes Against Christian Workers; Family Urges Bush to Postpone Military Action
KABUL/ISLAMABAD (ANS) — The trial of eight Western aid workers accused of spreading Christianity in mainly Moslim Afghanistan resumed in the Afghan Capital Kabul Sunday, September 30, as family members pleaded to United States President George W. Bush to postpone retaliatory action against the country.
Three more Christians arrested in China
Mr. Xiao Bi-guang and Mr. Zhang Yi-nan were arrested last Friday morning in Ping Ding Shan city, Henan Province, China. Sources in China reported that more than 20 Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers made the arrest. The location where the two men are being held is unknown at this time. Their families have received no official notification, in violation of Chinese law which says the family of arrested persons will be notified of their location within 24 hours after arrest.
Chinese church leaders released after international pressure
Three Chinese church leaders incarcerated since July 13 were released after international pressure mounted due to publicity of their case.
Iraq’s Revival: Christians Risk Their Lives for Church
BAGHDAD, IRAQ (ANS) — Iraqi Christians who have become targets of attacks by Muslim extremists and bandits are risking their lives to attend church services, ASSIST News Service (ANS) has established.
Thousands of Christians Petition President Bush
Washington, D.C. (Worthy News) – George W. Bush received a petition from Christians from across America encouraging him to stop his involvement in the “land for peace†process in Israel.
Saudi Arabia Deports Ethiopian Christian
Two and one-half weeks after an Ethiopian Christian was deported from Saudi Arabia for alleged “Christian activities,” a fellow Christian prisoner of Eritrean citizenship remains jailed in Jeddah.
Eritrean Protestants Arrested at Prayer Meeting
Asmara Police Jail, Punish 56 Prisoners Special to Compass Direct LOS ANGELES, May 8 (Compass) — Eritrean security police arrested two full-time evangelists and another 54 members of the Rema Church last night in Asmara, hauling them off to a local police station for holding illegal prayer meetings in two homes of their members. The prayer meetings were in progress in the capital’s Kahawta district when security forces raided the homes about 6 p.m., forcing the Protestant believers to stop their worship. The jailed Christians, 21 women and 35 men, remained under detention today at the No. 7 Police Station … Read more
Jordanian Christian Killed in Lebanon Attack
An Arab convert to Christianity was killed in a bomb blast last night outside his Tripoli apartment, adjacent to the home of a European missionary family thought to have been targeted in the attack.
Jihad Attacks on Non-Muslims in Nigeria Claim Thousands of Lives
Violence in predominantly Christian Plateau State in Nigeria has continued unabated since the first major outbreak in Jos, in 2001 when over 2,000 people are thought to have died in orchestrated inter religious violence.
Eritrea Jails 170 Protestant Christians
A total of 170 Protestant Christians have been jailed, beaten and threatened with death by Eritrean security forces in a harsh crackdown during February and March.
Muslim Extremist Murders Kurdish Christian
Kurdish Christian Ziwar Mohammed Ismaeel was shot dead in front of his taxi stand last month in Zakho, the northern-most city in the Kurdish safe-haven of Northern Iraq.