Saturday, October 29, 2011

Burma Army Targets Christian Civilians in War on Insurgents

Troops attack churches in Kachin state conflict.
By Vishal Arora
 
NEW DELHI, October 28 (Compass Direct News) – A recent attack on Christians and church buildings by Burmese soldiers in Kachin state showed that Christian civilians are targeted in the military offensive against insurgents.
 
“Targeting of Christians is not unusual in Burma’s conflict zones,” Nawdin Lahpai, editor-in-chief of the Kachin News Group, told Compass by phone, referring to the Oct. 16 military firing at a church, detention of a priest and four parishioners, and burning of church property in Kachin state. “The incident reflects the long-time policy of the Buddhist-Burman-majority Burmese government, which discriminates against the ethnic Christian minority.”
 
About 90 percent of the roughly 56 million people in Burma (also known as Myanmar) are Buddhist, mostly from the Burman ethnic group. Ethnic Kachins – like six other ethnic minorities who live along the country’s borders with China, Thailand and India – have had armed and unarmed groups fighting for independence or autonomy from successive military-led regimes for decades.
 
Intense fighting between the Burma army and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) began in June. But it’s not just the armed groups that are the target of Burmese troops, said the editor, a Kachin Christian.
 
In the Oct. 16 attack, about 150 soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 438 stormed Nam San Yang village in the Daw Phung Yang area of Bhamo District in Kachin state, which borders China, reported Mizzima, a Delhi-based news organization run by Burmese journalists. Members of a Catholic church who were preparing for Sunday mass heard gunfire and saw soldiers approaching them. They lay on the ground as the army men opened fire at them. No one was hurt.
 
The soldiers caught Catholic priest Jan Ma Aung Li and four other men.
 
“They said that all males in the village were people’s militiamen and KIO staff,” Mizzimaquoted Aung Li as saying.
 
The soldiers asked the Christians where the insurgents had stored guns and bombs. When the five detainees said they were not from the KIO, the soldiers kicked them and hit them with gun butts. They ransacked the whole church, apparently to look for weapons and bombs.
 
“Then they tied our hands with wire and took us away,” the priest told Mizzima. On the way, about 150 more soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 121 joined them. The Christians were forced to carry heavy rucksacks as they walked with the 300 army men. After walking for three hours, they rested at Lawkathama Monastery, where the soldiers and the KIO’s armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army, had a brief exchange of fire.
 
Later, they arrived at a Baptist church, where some soldiers burned the house of the priest, Aung San. The soldiers asked the detainees to tell the KIO that the army was preparing to attack their headquarters in Laiza before releasing them.
 
When the Christians reached their village, they found their houses burning.
 
The Kachin editor said religion was a key factor in the Kachin conflict, which dates back to the country’s independence in 1948.
 
Burma’s seven ethnic states, where most Christians and ethnic minorities live, were administered separately by the British. But ethnic leaders agreed to be incorporated into Burma after the Panglong Agreement was signed in 1947 providing for full autonomy, a share of the national wealth and the right to secession to ethnic states.
 
But Gen. Aung San – democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi’s father who was the head of the then interim government and who led the signing of the agreement – was assassinated months later. Subsequent governments refused to honor the agreement, but they presumed ethnic states to be part of the new country.
 
“The government’s policy of Burman-Buddhist domination over minorities started with the country’s first prime minister, U Nu,” the Kachin editor said. The U Nu-led government made Buddhism the state religion in 1961, and that’s when the KIO was formed.
 
In 1994, the KIO signed a ceasefire agreement with the government. But months before Burma’s first democratic election in two decades in September 2010, the then military-led government asked all armed insurgents to join the border security force. The KIO refused to do so, and the military deemed the ceasefire as void. The army’s offensive followed in June 2011, which has displaced over 30,000 Kachins.
 
While the majority of Kachins are Christian, Burmese authorities do not allow them to construct new church buildings as non-Burman Buddhist cultural expressions are seen as signs of insurgency.
 
In a report entitled, “Army Committing Abuses in Kachin State,” released this month, Human Rights Watch (HRW)) quoted a 65-year-old Kachin villager from Sang Gang as saying that when the fighting started in June 2011, the Burmese army uprooted a large Christian cross from a hilltop regarded by the villagers as sacred and used it as a stand for their weapons. The villagers had planned to eventually construct a church building on the site.
 
A 58-year-old Baptist Christian farmer from Maisakba told HRW how on three occasions. From 2000 to 2009, Burmese authorities forbade his community from constructing a new Christian church, in part because the proposed structure was in the shape of a cross. 
 
The editor said he was worried as the army was increasing military presence also in other ethnic states such as Karen. Burma’s neighbors China, Thailand and India have invested huge sums of money in power generation projects in ethnic states and the Burmese government now wants to end the decades-long insurgency.
 
“The Kachin conflict might soon expand to the whole ethnic region,” he said.
 
And when that happens, he added, the suffering of civilians, including Christians, will mount manifold.
 
 
END
 
**********
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News
 

Friday, October 28, 2011

First Missionary Journey to Nigeria (Hebrews 11:1)

First Missionary Journey to Nigeria (Hebrews 11:1):

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Vicar of Baghdad: “Life in Baghdad continues to be awful and wonderful!”

Vicar of Baghdad: “Life in Baghdad continues to be awful and wonderful!”:

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Iran Attempts to Convert Christian Prisoners as Crackdown on Church Intensifies

Iran Attempts to Convert Christian Prisoners as Crackdown on Church Intensifies:

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Religious Liberty Monitoring: Papua, Indonesia: from 'Peace Child' to genocide. Indonesian Army storms Third Papuan Congress; 6 dead, dozens wounded, hundreds arrested.

Religious Liberty Monitoring: Papua, Indonesia: from 'Peace Child' to genocide. Indonesian Army storms Third Papuan Congress; 6 dead, dozens wounded, hundreds arrested.:

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Coptic Winter: Democracy in Name Only - Breakpoint with Chuck Colson, News

Coptic Winter: Democracy in Name Only - Breakpoint with Chuck Colson, News:

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Millions are Persecuted, and the Church Wants to Know - Christian News, Conservative Commentary

Millions are Persecuted, and the Church Wants to Know - Christian News, Conservative Commentary:

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Atheist Group Tries To Stop Prayers At High School Football Games That Include ‘Jesus’ | Fox News

Atheist Group Tries To Stop Prayers At High School Football Games That Include ‘Jesus’ | Fox News:

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Concerns for Christians in Tunisia as Islamists take most votes | Christian News on Christian Today

Concerns for Christians in Tunisia as Islamists take most votes | Christian News on Christian Today:

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Mission Network News

Mission Network News: "United Nations turns attention to imprisoned pastor, calls for reform"

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Mission Network News

Mission Network News: "Kony's eventual capture to bring relief, challenges"

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ChinaAid President Bob Fu's Interview on the BBC's HARDtalk News Program (video) - Christian Newswire

ChinaAid President Bob Fu's Interview on the BBC's HARDtalk News Program (video) - Christian Newswire:

'via Blog this'

Details of Brutal Beating & Torture of Blind Legal Activist Chen Guangcheng Emerge - Christian Newswire

Details of Brutal Beating & Torture of Blind Legal Activist Chen Guangcheng Emerge - Christian Newswire:

'via Blog this'

Religious Tolerance Bill Threatens Indonesian Church

Religious Tolerance Bill Threatens Indonesian Church:

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Facebook Comment Backlash May Leave UK Christian Homeless

Facebook Comment Backlash May Leave UK Christian Homeless:

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UN Expert Calls for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's Release

UN Expert Calls for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's Release:

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

NATO presence requested in Libya through end of 2011

Mission Network News: "Libya (MNN) ― Although NATO seems poised to bring its Libya mission to an end, the transitional government has asked it to remain through the end of 2011 to help ensure security."

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Missionary attacked while walking home from church

Mission Network News: "South Asia (MNN) ― As a result of their location and of the general offensiveness of the Gospel, missionaries and pastors in South Asia frequently come up against extreme opposition.

Thus, Gospel for Asia workers are often chided, harassed and beaten for their faith."

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Nigerian Army Kills Christian Mother of Five

Nigerian Army Kills Christian Mother of Five: "Nigerian soldiers, summoned to stop inter-religious fighting between Muslim and Christian youths last week, shot and killed a Christian mother of five in the Yelwa area of Bauchi city, according to family and church sources."

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Christians Cringe as New Libya Embraces Shariah Law

Christians Cringe as New Libya Embraces Shariah Law: "After months of fighting an oppressive dictator, Libyans rejoiced in Moammar Gadhafi's death last week. The death, not just of the man but seemingly of the symbol of oppression, represented change and ultimately freedom.

But has freedom really come?"

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Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Given Islamic Propaganda

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Given Islamic Propaganda: "Youcef Nadarkhani, the Christian pastor sentenced to death in Iran, is feeling pressure from Iranian officials.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is reporting that Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei may be trying to entrap the pastor."

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

'New' Libya to follow Sharia law, says interim government

Mission Network News: "Libya (MNN) ― After months of fighting an oppressive dictator, Libyan rejoiced in Moammar Gaddafi's death last week. The death not just of the man but seemingly of the symbol of oppression represented change and ultimately freedom."

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Mission Network News

Mission Network News: "Eritrea (MNN) ― After being denied even the most basic of needs, three Christians died in Eritrean military camps over the last few weeks.

Open Doors, USA"

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Christians in Iraq feel 'failed' by government | Christian News on Christian Today

Christians in Iraq feel 'failed' by government | Christian News on Christian Today: "Ongoing violence against Christians in Iraq has produced an accelerated exodus of believers recently and numbering in the hundreds of thousands over the last 10 years, said Open Doors USA officials.

While the world’s attention has shifted to such countries as Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the organisation warns that the mass movement of Christians in Iraq continues unabated."

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Alabama Megachurch Pastor to Lead 50,000 in 'Secret Church' Event, Christian News

Alabama Megachurch Pastor to Lead 50,000 in 'Secret Church' Event, Christian News: "An Alabama megachurch pastor with a heart for the persecuted church will lead tens of thousands of Christians around the world in a “secret church” event in November."

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Muslims Attack Christian Church Building in Sudan

Muslims Attack Christian Church Building in Sudan: "Emboldened by government calls for a Sudan based on Islamic law since the secession of South Sudan, Muslims long opposed to a church near Khartoum have attacked Christians trying to finish constructing their building, sources said."

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Commonwealth leaders urged to take action on homophobic persecution | Ekklesia

Commonwealth leaders urged to take action on homophobic persecution | Ekklesia: "Two of Britain’s leading campaigners against homophobia – Peter Tatchell and Lord (Guy) Black of Brentwood – have urged the 54 member states of the Commonwealth to take strong and immediate action against political leaders who threaten gays with arrest, imprisonment, torture and sometimes death.

And they warn unless this is done at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth this year (28-30 October), there is a chance that the 65-year old multi-racial 'club' headed by Queen Elizabeth II will become increasingly irrelevant in the eyes of millions of young people around the world."

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Libyans must seek justice after killing of Colonel Gaddafi | Ekklesia

Libyans must seek justice after killing of Colonel Gaddafi | Ekklesia: "The death of Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi may bring to a close a chapter of Libya's history marked by repression and abuse, but it does not end the story, Amnesty International has said.

“The legacy of repression and abuse from Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi's rule will not end until there is a full accounting for the past and human rights are embedded in Libya's new institutions,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for North Africa and the Middle East at Amnesty International."

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Faith groups offer support to victims of Somali piracy | Ekklesia

Faith groups offer support to victims of Somali piracy | Ekklesia: "Faith groups in East Africa are offering counselling and aid to victims of sea piracy off the coast of Somalia, primarily in the Indian Ocean from the Gulf of Aden in the Arabia Sea to the Eastern Indian Ocean near the Mozambique Channel - writes Fredrick Nzwili.

"Seafarers who have encountered the pirates need counselling, spiritual nourishment and a place to rest. We offer them these services as well as give them an opportunity to contact their families," said Anglican Bishop Julius Kalu of Mombasa, Kenya's main seaport."

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Ecumenical peacebuilding programme launched in Colombia | Ekklesia

Ecumenical peacebuilding programme launched in Colombia | Ekklesia: "An ecumenical accompaniment programme has been launched to assist victims of violence in Colombia, where internal armed conflict has driven nearly five million people away from their land and property, says the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI). John Zarocostas reports.

"The churches have been asked to break the silence and communicate all the atrocities taking place in Colombia,” the Rev Carlos E. Ham, programme executive for Diakonia and Latin America-Caribbean with the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), told ENInews on 18 October."

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Indonesian troops storm Papuan independence rally | Ekklesia

Indonesian troops storm Papuan independence rally | Ekklesia: "At least seven people are feared dead after Indonesian police opened fire on hundreds of West Papuans at an independence rally close to the province’s capital, says Survival Internatioal, the NGO which works for the rights of tribal people.

Representatives from tribes all over West Papua were meeting to choose a new leadership and to discuss the political future of the region. West Papua has been ruled by Indonesia since 1963."

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Skillet to Lead Winter Jam 2012's All-Star Lineup

Skillet to Lead Winter Jam 2012's All-Star Lineup: "Christian music's largest annual tour announced its 2012 artist and city lineup Monday in Nashville.

Grammy-nominated alternative rockers Skillet will headline the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, which kicks off in Charleston, W.V., on Jan. 6."

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Indonesian Church Denied Site as New Bill Threatens Freedoms


Religious Tolerance Bill’ would only entrench discrimination, critics say.
By Sarah Page
 
DUBLIN, October 25 (Compass Direct News) – Members of a church in Bogor, West Java, are determined to continue meeting outside their sealed building each Sunday until they are granted freedom to worship inside it, despite a ban on street meetings issued by the local mayor.
 
“The church will never give up meeting together,” a local source who preferred to remain unnamed said of the Indonesian Christian Church (Gereja Kristen Indonesia, or GKI), in the Yasmin area of Bogor.
 
The ban on street meetings forced church members to worship at an alternative location on Sunday (Oct. 23).
 
Amid the stand-off, religious freedom for groups such as the Yasmin church would be dramatically reduced under a “Religious Tolerance Bill” under consideration by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, critics of the proposal say. A constitutional debate is raging in Indonesia over the bill.
 
On Oct. 9,Yasmin church members and police officers clashed on the street in front of the sealed church building over the Christians’ right to meet there. According to local media reports, West Java police are now investigating complaints filed by both sides; a police chief has accused church members of knocking him unconscious, while the church has countersued police for disrupting its service.
 
In defiance of a Supreme Court order early this year affirming Yasmin’s constitutional right to freedom of worship, Bogor Mayor Diani Budianto canceled the church’s worship permit, locked and sealed their church building and banned church members from meeting on the street (see www.compassdirect.org, “Mayor in Indonesia Again Balks at Granting Church Permit,” Aug. 15). The permit had been hard-earned; under terms of a 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree, all churches must meet strict criteria to qualify for a church worship permit, including proof of at least 90 church members, signatures of approval from at least 60 local residents, and approval from village officials and a local interfaith forum.
 
Yasmin church officials have since refused offers from local authorities to relocate to another building, citing the case of the Batak Christian Protestant Church in Bekasi, West Java, evicted from their previous premises and now denied a building permit.
 
Rights Experts Condemn Bill
Following a sharp rise in similar conflicts over the past two years, the Religious Affairs Ministry is considering the Religious Tolerance Bill, first proposed by the Ministry in 2003 and revived in February following the brutal murder of three members of the Ahmadiyah sect. The group has often been targeted by Islamic radicals for its claim that Muhammad was not the last prophet of Islam.
 
Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi and Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono met last week and announced their joint endorsement of the bill to local media.
 
Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, said the bill will simply legitimize existing discriminatory regulations in the 1965 Anti-Blasphemy Law as well as those in the 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree. The decree has contributed to many conflicts, including the current clash in Bogor. The new bill places more stringent limits on proselytizing, constructing places of worship and religious education, according to The Jakarta Globe.
 
Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch fears that the law – proposed by the same ministry that has called for a complete ban on Ahmadiyah – will further entrench discrimination against religious minorities.
 
Dr. Musda Mulia, chair of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace, told The Jakarta Post that many articles in this bill are not compatible with the principles of democracy, pluralism and human rights. Rather than limiting religious activities, the government should ensure that all religions receive equal treatment, he added.
 
The success or failure of the bill rests on the terminology, Fajar Riza Ul Haq, executive director of the Maarif Institute, told the Globe. “They should have drafted a religious freedom bill instead of this one,” he said.
 
Faith Out of Focus
A European Union delegation is holding a two-day seminar to discuss the conflicts, another local source told Compass on Monday.
 
“But only moderate Muslims are attending,” he said. “If members of the Front Pembela Islam [Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI] and other radical groups had joined in, I’m sure the discussion would have been more helpful.”
 
One participant who attended yesterday told Compass that speakers did not address violence against Christians at all; rather, they emphasized “organizing and maintaining inter-religious dialogue.”
 
Organized jointly by the European Union Delegation to Indonesia and Brunei and Nahdlatul Ulam, one of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organizations, the seminar sought to “explore the contribution made by faith organizations to the fulfillment of human rights and the challenges in balancing respect for freedom of religion with other human rights, including the freedom of expression,” according to a press release on the E.U. delegation’s website.
 
“We must [ensure] … that the legitimate assertion of religious belief is reconciled with broader human rights concerns,” Julian Wilson, head of the delegation, wrote in the release.
 
Moderates Urge Government to Act
Moderates of all faiths, however, are frustrated by the government’s failure to address these issues.
 
“I think Yasmin church will just have to stand firm, despite the risk of being roughed up by the police,” the source close to the church said. “As we’ve seen in previous cases, it may take one or more casualties, drawing unwanted media attention locally and internationally, before the government moves in more seriously to protect the Christians.”
 
Moderates were particularly annoyed at the government’s failure to address forced church closures.
 
“As usual, the president sits by and does absolutely nothing, while the mayor of Bogor ignores the Supreme Court rulings and suffers no consequences,” one online reader commented at the foot of a Jakarta Post story about Yasmin church on Oct. 11.
 
Local authorities often adopt regulations or bylaws that are at odds with Indonesia’s constitution (see www.compassdirect.org, “Christians Call for Rejection of Sharia-Inspired Bills,” Aug. 19, 2009). Rahmat Effendi, acting mayor of Bekasi in West Java, recently banned the Ahmadiyah from “any activity that may be interpreted as an effort to spread its beliefs.”
 
The ban – faithful to Indonesia’s 1965 Anti-Blasphemy Law but contrary to constitutional guarantees of religious freedom – came into effect on Oct. 13. Ahmadis in Bekasi have since met under strict police surveillance.
 
Based on these inconsistencies and the apparent bias in application of existing laws, many Indonesians doubt that the new bill will improve conditions for religious minorities.
 
“Look at the rising mob crime and violence, the irrational sentencing in the February murders of three Ahmadis, the hate rhetoric in Bogor and the real Islamic violence towards anyone who is not a fundamentalist,” a reader identified as Dr. Dez commented on a Jakarta Globe story posted yesterday. “These issues are all inter-related. The bill will drive a further wedge into divided communities, resulting in more violence. Then the new Intelligence Bill will allow victims to be detained as a threat to security.
 
“Please have a conscience and speak out,” he added. “You are not just safeguarding groups like the Ahmadi, but your children too.”
 
 
END

'New' Libya to be ruled by Islamic law, polygamy permitted – NTC | World | RIA Novosti

'New' Libya to be ruled by Islamic law, polygamy permitted – NTC | World | RIA Novosti: "Islamic sharia law will prevail in liberated Libya and any existing laws that contradict it will be abolished, National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Monday."

Read more...

Christian Mother of Five in Nigeria Killed


Soldiers containing inter-religious youth fighting shoot her in her home.
By Obed Minchakpu
 
BAUCHI, Nigeria, October 24 (Compass Direct News) – Nigerian soldiers summoned to stop inter-religious fighting between Muslim and Christian youths last week shot and killed a Christian mother of five in the Yelwa area of Bauchi city, according to family and church sources.
 
Soldiers were called in to restore calm following fighting that broke out at a high school soccer match on Thursday (Oct. 20), and later three Muslim soldiers shot and killed Charity Augustine Agbo and a Christian boy. The circumstances leading to the shooting of the boy, who is unrelated to Agbo, were not immediately known, and his name was not disclosed.
 
“There was not any justifiable reason for the soldiers to have shot the woman,” said the Rev. Lawi Pokti, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bauchi State.
 
Pokti confirmed the shooting of the boy, who was initially reported as having been killed, and said he had been resuscitated in a hospital.
 
Augustine Agbo, husband of the murdered woman, told reporters that three soldiers shot his wife after storming their house on Lagos Street in the Yelwa area of the city.
 
“Three soldiers arrived in a Hilux vehicle with siren blaring, scaring us and forcing us to run into our houses,” he reportedly said. “When we all ran inside, we saw these three soldiers coming to our house; then we locked the outside gate, but the soldiers followed us and broke the glass door and forced the door open and shot my wife twice on the chest.”
 
Agbo reported the shooting to the Army commander in Bauchi, and his soldiers later came to his house to take his wife to an area clinic owned by the Church of Christ in Nigeria, he reportedly said.
 
“After they left, the situation became worse, forcing us to take her to the ATBU Teaching Hospital, where she later died,” he told reporters.
 
The inter-religious violence erupted during a soccer game at the Baba Tanko Secondary School in Kagadama, a part of the Yelwa area, and then spread to other parts of Bauchi city. Other Muslims reportedly joined Muslim students from the school, attacked Christians and set their homes ablaze.
 
The Baba Tanko Secondary School is known as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, with Christian sources saying that most religious conflicts in Bauchi have been triggered by Muslim students at the school. In 2007, Muslim students along with other Muslims attacked Christians, killing dozens of them and destroying Christian-owned homes.
 
Mohammed Majeed Ali, assistant commissioner of police with the Bauchi State Police Command, confirmed the outbreak of the religious violence; he told Compass that the crisis has been contained.
 
For more than a decade, Christians in Bauchi state have been under pressure from Muslim extremists who have destroyed Christian worship places and killed Christians, said Pokti of CAN. Earlier this year, the Rev. Ishaku Kadah and his wife were abducted and killed, as was pastor Irimiya Maigida.
 
“I want to make it categorically clear that enough is enough, because despite the fact that the Christian community has constantly remained peaceful, it has become a target for these extremist Muslims even when there is peace,” he said.
 
Pokti faulted the government for being slow to prosecute Muslim extremists.
 
“Because of lack of pro-active measures by the government to ensure peace in Christian areas in the state, Christians are being killed by Muslim extremists, and none of them has been brought to book,” he said. “The lukewarm attitude of the Nigerian government to problems of persecution facing Christians has made it easy for Muslim extremists to attack Christians and get away with such crimes.”
 
 
END
 
**********
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Church Faces Increasing Hostility in Sudan


Constructing worship buildings more difficult since secession of South Sudan.
Special to Compass Direct News
 
KHARTOUM, Sudan, October 24 (Compass Direct News) – Emboldened by government calls for a Sudan based on Islamic law since the secession of South Sudan, Muslims long opposed to a church near Khartoum have attacked Christians trying to finish constructing their building, sources said.
 
The Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) congregation in Omdurman West, across the Nile River from Khartoum, has continued to meet for Sunday worship in a building without a roof in spite of opposition from area Muslims and local authorities, the sources told Compass. Claiming that Christianity was no longer an accepted religion in the country, Muslims in the Hay al Sawra, Block 29 area of Omdurman West on Aug. 5 attacked SCOC members who were constructing the church building, the sources said.
 
“We do not want any presence of churches in our area,” shouted members of the mob as they threw stones at the Christians, the sources said.
 
Muslims in the north, where an estimated 1 million Christians still live following the secession of South Sudan on July 9, fear the potential influence of the church, they said.
 
“They want to reduce or restrict the number of churches, so that they can put more pressure on believers,” said a church leader on condition of anonymity.
 
The SCOC has been trying to erect a church building on the site since it obtained the land in 1997, but both government officials and area Muslim residents have used delay tactics to prevent it, according to a Christian who lives in the area. The SCOC in that area of Omdurman is still trying to get permission from the Islamic government in Khartoum to construct the new church building, Christian sources in Khartoum said.
 
Muslims and local “popular committees” – responsible for issuing residence certificates necessary for obtaining citizenship or an ID card, with authority to strike down proposals for erecting church buildings – assert that no church is necessary because there are no Christians there. But there are many Christians living in the area, sources said.
 
The government-appointed members of the popular committees tend to consist of radical Muslims who monitor Christian activities in neighborhoods so they can report them to security authorities, Christian sources told Compass. Previously, area Christians were upset to learn that the popular committees had divided another piece of land they hoped to obtain into two lots – one designated for a mosque, and the other for a Muslim school, sources said.
 
“We have already raised our objection over the way we are being treated in regards to obtaining permission to build this church,” said a church leader who wished to remain unnamed.
 
The church had filed a complaint with the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments, which last month informed the SCOC that officials will investigate the matter, though they gave no time frame.
 
Meantime, the congregation finds that rain or whirling dust makes worship difficult, members said.
 
“I think we have much experience in how difficult it is to obtain permission for new church buildings in this country,” said a Christian leader who requested anonymity.
 
All religious groups must obtain permits from the Ministry of Guidance and Social Endowments, the state ministry of construction and planning and the local planning office before constructing new houses of worship, according to the U.S. Department of State’s 2010 International Religious Freedom Report.
 
Earlier this month, Sudan President Omar al-Bashir again asserted that the government has decided that Sudan will have a strictly Islamic identity. Al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur, made the statement to leaders of his party in Khartoum on Oct. 12.
 
Last December, one month before South Sudan’s vote for independence, Al-Bashir declared that if the south seceded as expected, Sudan would amend its constitution to make sharia(Islamic law) the only source of law and Arabic the official language.
 
 
END
 
**********
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Monday, October 24, 2011

Who will run the new Libya now?

Mission Network News: "Libya (MNN) ― With Libya united to topple Muammar Gaddafi, the question upon his death is: Whose revolution was it?

There were multiple heavily-armed militias fighting together to remove the regime, and now that the smoke is clearing, they've laid claim on a territory and cause."

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