Pakistan 14 year old Rimsha Masih innocent, case dropped 20 Nov 2012

Pakistan 14 year old Rimsha Masih innocent, her location remains secret as risk remains

First time blasphemy charge dropped, case has highlighted abuse of law to target innocents 

LONDON, UK, Nov 20^th (Open Doors News) -

The case against Rimsha Masih, the teenage Pakistani Christian girl, has today been dropped by the court in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Rimsha, who was arrested in August on suspicion of desecrating Islamic texts, was originally charged in an adult court with blasphemy; there the penalty was life imprisonment.  The girl’s case was subsequently transferred to the juvenile court after her age was certified, and medical evidence emerged that her mental capacity was impaired. Since then her case has gone through several dramatic twists and turns, and has received international media attention. During this time, she spent three weeks in protective   custody in a maximum security prison. 

Rimsha's lawyer said today her case had been a misuse of law. Akmal Bhatti said: "The court has quashed the case, declaring Rimsha innocent."
Khalid Jadoon, imam of a mosque, close to Rimsha’s former family home in the Mehrabad sector of Islamabad, now faces a charge of making a false accusation.

So far, there’s been no response from Rimsha or her family, who remain in hiding at an undisclosed location. Rimsha’s attorneys say she and her family never can return to their home. Earlier reports that the family had been secreted away to Norway were denied by the Norwegian Embassy in Pakistan and Pakistan’s Minister of National Harmony, Paul Bhatti, who told us last month “Mizrek Masih's family is in Pakistan and in our protection.”

“This is the first case of its kind when a person charged under the strict blasphemy laws is exonerated from the accusation,” said Naveed Chaudry, another of Rimsha’s lawyers. “This case has also brought for the first time a debate on how these laws are misused to target innocent people.”

Rimsha’s case has taken several dramatic turns after her arrest on Aug. 16^th. 
On Aug. 28 a medical report determined the girl to be 14 years old. Her attorneys considered the medical opinion to be powerful evidence that would persuade the court to shift Rimsha’s case to the juvenile courts, where potential penalties are less severe.
Instead, the court delayed a decision and agreed to a new medical exam at the insistence of the lawyer representing Rimsha's accuser. The lawyer hinted strongly that there would be violence if the girl were released on bail and her case transferred out of the adult court system.

The most dramatic development occurred on Sept. 2 when police, acting on information provided by members of a local mosque, arrested a local Muslim cleric, Khalid Jadoon, on suspicion of supplying Rimsha with the torn Quranic pages she was later accused of desecrating herself. (Rimsha’s original accuser was her neighbour Malik Ammad). The new twist forced yet another delay in a determination whether Rimsha would be released on bail.

On Sept. 23, sub-Inspector Munir Jaffri, the investigation officer in the blasphemy case, asked the court to clear Rimsha of the charge against her and instead charge Khalid Jadoon.

The court then ordered that Rimsha be released into protective custody, on bail security of approximately $10,500. It’s extremely rare that bail is granted in a blasphemy case, partly for the defendant’s own safety, but Masih’s lawyers pleaded that she was a juvenile. A day later Rimsha was airlifted from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi to an undisclosed location.

However, even then the twists and turns were not over. Three witnesses whose original testimony provided police with the evidence to arrest the imam Jadoon then recanted at an Oct. 1 court hearing. The witnesses, Khurram Shahzad, Hafiz Mohammad Owais and a man identified by the name Danish, told the judge the police had tortured them into recording their incriminating statements.

Rimsha’s arrest had prompted widespread international condemnation of Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari ordered an investigation, and said the law must not be used to settle personal scores. Prominent Muslim clerics in Pakistan urged the courts not to rush to judgment under public pressure, though the blasphemy law is widely popular among many ordinary Pakistanis.

Other Christians who fled Islamabad’s Meherabadi neighborhood to avoid Muslim anger over Rimsha’s alleged offense have tried to return home.

In the meantime, Rimsha Masih’s case has triggered a debate on how Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws are being used to settle personal scores and vendettas. They have been especially in the spotlight since a Christian mother-of-five, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death in November 2010 for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. She remains in prison.

In Jan 2011, the powerful Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, was killed by his own bodyguard for publicly urging reform of the blasphemy laws. His assassination divided Pakistani opinion, with many hailing the bodyguard as a hero for what he’d done.
END

www.opendoorsnews.org

Copyright 2012 Open Doors News

South Sudan Border Dispute Brings Destitution to Thousands

Churches plead for aid for returnees to Abyei villages destroyed in May 󈧏

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SOUTH SUDAN (ANS) -- As politicians wrangle ahead of an early December deadline over the still-disputed status of the oil-rich region of Abyei, straddling the border of Sudan and South Sudan, local church leaders appeal for help in the face of a potential humanitarian crisis.

According to a story by Open Doors News, both governments have been asked to approve an African Union proposal to resolve the status of the Abyei region. Sudan is stalling, keen to avoid the proposed referendum next year on self-determination for an area the size of Lebanon, a referendum which has already been previously postponed.

While arguments over nationality drag on, Open Doors News reported that thousands of people face near-starvation in villages devastated by the conflict - particularly since May 2011 when a combination of northern militias, led by tanks and 5,000 Sudanese Army troops, destroyed roughly 90 percent of Abyei town.

Open Doors News said now a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding as people displaced by fighting start to return to desolate villages, where even water boreholes have been badly damaged, following the withdrawal of Sudanese government troops in June 2012.

Displacement camps en route, already home to thousands and hugely over-stretched, are unable to feed them. Many are left to dig for roots and forage for edible leaves.

Open Doros News said in Abyei town and the surrounding areas, a frequent flashpoint for violence, people are returning to find there is nothing left of their villages - as occupying Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) destroyed almost all buildings and infrastructure. Abyei is still a "no-go" area for most aid agencies, due to tight restrictions imposed by Khartoum and security concerns.

Humanitarian needs grow worse by the day, according to church leaders. Open Doors News said they estimate that up to 20,000 people have arrived in the Abyei area already, with 2,000 reportedly arriving in Abyei town in a single week recently.

Open Doors said that one of the worst situations is to be found in 60 km from Abyei town in Agok, a major staging post for returnees and the biggest center for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the area.

With their own church premises and compounds almost completely destroyed too, church leaders formed an Inter-Church Committee (ICC), representing Roman Catholic, Episcopal Church of Sudan and Pentecostal congregations, to co-ordinate relief. Open Doros News said their work recently received a boost when international partners managed the difficult logistics to deliver a convoy of 40 tons of sorghum, 1,500 mosquito nets and medicine to Agok.

A team member involved in this delivery in late October described the situation as "shocking." "Occupation by the SAF has left the area in complete shambles," he said. "The infrastructure is completely destroyed. Is Abyei important only because of its oil . . . and not because of its indigenous people?"

Open Doors News said the ICC is providing food, water, shelter and education, as well as peace-building initiatives and trauma-healing. In the longer term, it wants also to extend its areas such as healthcare and rebuilding livelihoods.

Church leaders say the few aid agencies still working in Agok, such as the World Food Program, give IDPs priority over returnees in food distributions; even then, they say only half of IDPs are receiving food.

Many of the IDPs in Agok have been there since the Sudanese troops invaded in May 2011, displacing up to 150,000 people. Many had also been displaced in earlier violence between SAF and Southern troops, in 2008.

Open Doors News said people still shelter under emergency plastic sheeting and grass mats - and now it's the rainy season, which brings rampant malaria and other water-borne diseases. One of the model church schools in Agok caters for up to 4,000 children - in space intended for 400.

The team member said he was struck by "a pervading sense of despondency. A great injustice has passed almost unnoticed before us. Displaced people feel they have been deserted by their own, and failed by their government who are there to protect them and create stability, and to uphold their word and promises."

Open Doros News said the ICC says local churches have been one of the few organizations to offer consistent support to IDPs since 2011, opening up their homes, building and compounds.

ICC Chairman Father Biyong said, "They lost all their worldly belongings in the carnage that took place there. Due to the nature of the conflict, they were targeted because of their ethnic identity and religious affiliation."

An independent advocate for Abyei's population Tim Flatman, who's visited the area several times reports, "I doubt whether the community could have survived during the period of displacement without the influence of the Church. It gave people hope when it would have been easy to lose hope, and for the community to be scattered across South Sudan. When INGOs failed to get assistance to Agok, where 90,000 of the community were based, the Church was the vehicle by which surprise donations were made which replenished supplies for the most vulnerable as they were running out."

Open Doors News said there's been widespread praise for the mainly Ethiopian peacekeeping troops with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), tasked with verifying the demilitarisation of Abyei, protecting the oil infrastructure and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid for six months from June. Yet, even UNISFA's presence has not prevented pro-government of Sudan militias in Abyei from intimidating returnees, according to the ICC.

The churches are keen to preserve a strong Christian witness in an area so close to Sudan, where President al-Bashir has promised to extend Sharia law. The aid delivery included bibles and three motorbikes to enable church staff to travel between Agok and Abyei.

For now, ICC said, the church's efforts are focused on meeting urgent humanitarian needs, but its witness is strong.

Open Doors News reported Pastor Santino of the Episcopal Church of Sudan said, "The church has grown in Agok, with more coming to faith as they realise God is the only one they can rely on."

Abyei was described as a "historical bridge" between North and South Sudan in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended decades of civil war, yet it has become a political football. Its strategic location and mineral deposits make it important to both sides.

Tensions between Sudan and South Sudan brought them to the brink of all-out war earlier this year, prompting the UN to set a deadline for both sides to reach agreement on all outstanding issues.

On Sept. 27, Open Doors News reported, both sides ratified agreements on trade, oil and security, facilitated by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). Yet, there is still no agreement on Abyei and five other disputed border areas, which most observers see as vital for securing lasting peace between the two nations.

Open Doors News said South Sudan has agreed a Sept. 21 African Union proposal by chief mediator Thabo Mbeki to resolve the Abyei question. Sudan, however, has so far rejected it, due to ongoing concerns about the proposed referendum in Abyei and associated voting rights.

Sudan was dismayed that Arab Misseriya nomadic herdsmen, who are loyal to the North, were not included as eligible voters; these nomads graze cattle for part of each year on land that is home to the Ngok Dinka, who are mainly Christian and closely linked to the South. Khartoum insists a political solution is preferable to a vote.

Open Doors News said the AUHIP has given both sides six weeks from Oct. 24 to reach consensus on the status of Abyei. If they do not, the AU will endorse the proposal as "final and binding" and will seek endorsement by the UN Security Council.

Open Doors News said ICC also has made an urgent appeal to the worldwide church for prayer. "Pray for the security situation, for peace and stability. Pray that those who make decisions will make them in favor of the people of the land, that those who sit there will remember we are a people as they are."

For more information go to www.opendoorsnews.org

Pastor, Police Inspector and Politician Murdered in Separate Gun Attacks in Nigeria

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SURREY, ENGLAND (ANS) -- A retired pastor from the COCIN (Church of Christ in Nations) denomination was shot dead in his home in Borno State Sunday as he and his family were preparing to attend a church service.

According to a news release from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), his death came as a police inspector and a politician were gunned down in attacks in Bauchi and Kano States respectively.

CSW said according to local church sources, Rev. Elisha Kabura was talking to his son when two gunmen posing as visitors entered his home in Maiduguri, the state capital, and fired several shots at him before fleeing the area undetected.

CSW said according to the Nigerian newspaper The Guardian, Kabura had received a death threat from Boko Haram earlier this year, but refused to flee the area. In September, Pastor Ali Samuri of the Good News Church, who received a similar threat, was shot dead by gunmen who had followed him to his house in the Mafoni area of Maiduguri.

A local leader told CSW that Boko Haram is selectively killing Christians in their homes.

He added, "They kill today; there's a lull, then they kill again. It is ongoing. Many people are frightened - they don't know who will be next. We just pray that somehow justice will be worked out, and effective measures will be taken by the government. The security services are trying their best but cannot contain the whole thing. We are losing confidence."

CSW said on the same day, Babangida Danbabo, a police inspector attached to Government House in Bauchi State, was shot dead along Nasarawa Road in Bauchi Metropolis as he returned home from early evening prayers at a local mosque.

According to CSW, a day earlier in Kano State, Ibrahim Abba Garko, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representative for Garko Constituency in the Kano State House of Assembly, died after gunmen on a motorcycle shot him in the head, chest, and shoulder as he met with friends in the Ungwa Uku General Area shortly after observing early evening prayer.

CSW said his colleagues are also reported to have been injured, and are receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital. The Kano House of Assembly has declared a seven-day mourning period in his honor.

CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in the news release, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Rev. Kabura, Mr. Danbabo and Mr. Garko at this time. It is tragic that the lives of people who worked for the betterment of their respective communities can be cut short by those who are bent on worsening the plight of the country. Boko Haram continually seeks to justify murder as a sacred duty, which is abhorrent since every religious tradition respects the life and dignity of humankind. CSW continues to call on the government of Borno State in particular to institute security guarantees that adequately protect all of its citizens."

Thomas added, "We also call on the federal government to combine an effective judicial response to the military, including the timely prosecution of suspected members, funders and backers of this terrorist group to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of social or political standing, in order to ensure real progress in solving the problem posed by the Boko Haram militia."

Christian Solidarity Worldwide is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

For further information, visit www.csw.org.uk.

Kenya: Ongoing Tension As Soldiers' Deaths Follow Nairobi Explosion

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

NAIROBI, KENYA (ANS) -- Army units have been mobilized to track down the killers of three soldiers who were shot dead today in Garissa in north eastern Kenya. There are reports of excessive tactics being used against unarmed civilians.

A bus bombing on Sunday killed seven and wounded many more (Photo: AFP, Tony Karumba)

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the soldiers, who were in plain clothes, were fixing a flat tire when they were shot. Their deaths come a day after seven people were killed and 33 injured on Sunday, November 18, 2012, in an explosion near St Teresa Church in the Somali-dominated Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh that severely damaged a 25-seater minibus, just as members of the congregation were leaving the Sunday service.

The injured were taken to Kenyatta National Hospital where 28 are reportedly in a critical condition, while five are said to be stable.

CSW added that eyewitnesses to the Eastleigh blast described watching a man jump from the minibus moments prior to the explosion, who attempted to enter a car that was following the bus, fell and was apprehended by a crowd as the car sped away. However, in a comment to local press, Nairobi provincial police officer Moses Ombati said: "We are not sure whether he is the person behind the attacks or it is a case of mistaken identity, but we are seriously investigating the incident."

A woman escapes from tear gas thrown by the police during skirmishes on Monday in the Eastleigh neighborhood of Kenya's capital, Nairobi (Photo: Reuters)

The explosion and shootings are the latest in a series of grenade and gun attacks targeting churches, police and other public areas. Two weeks ago a grenade was thrown into a Garissa Church, killing the pastor and injuring thirteen. In Eastleigh on 30 September, a grenade thrown into the children' church service of St Polycarp Church claimed the lives of one child and three others.

"Attacks appear to be on the increase since the Kenyan army entered Somalia following a series of kidnappings of aid workers and foreign tourists, and assisted in ousting al Shabaab from its strongholds there," said a spokesperson for CSW.

Sunday's attack in Eastleigh, which is often referred to as "little Mogadishu" due to its' significant Somali population, occasioned retaliatory attacks against members of the Somali community and their homes and businesses, leading to the deployment of the General Service Unit (GSU), a paramilitary wing of the Kenya Police, to restore order. However, ethno-religious fighting between youths is said to have continued today, with scores reported injured by noon.

Members of al Shabaab

CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: "We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in Sunday's attack, and to the families of the three soldiers. The seeming increase in attacks by suspected members of al Shabaab or its sympathizers is deeply worrying. However, while anger and revulsion at such appalling events is understandable, retaliation is never the answer.

"It is vital that the government makes, and is seen to be making, every effort to effectively but sensitively address the security vacuum that has been highlighted by this worrying new development. This would contribute greatly towards restoring confidence in the forces of law and order and forestalling further outbreaks of retributive violence."

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

South Sudan border dispute brings destitution to thousands

Churches plead for aid for returnees to abyei villages destroyed in May ‘11

Nov. 19, (Open Doors News) — As politicians wrangle ahead of an early December deadline over the still-disputed status of the oil-rich region of Abyei, straddling the border of Sudan and South Sudan, local church leaders appeal for help in the face of a potential humanitarian crisis.

Both governments have been asked to approve an African Union proposal to resolve the status of the Abyei region. Sudan is stalling, keen to avoid the proposed referendum next year on self-determination for an area the size of Lebanon, a referendum which has already been previously postponed. 

While arguments over nationality drag on, thousands of people face near-starvation in villages devastated by the conflict – particularly since May 2011 when a combination of northern militias, led by tanks and 5,000 Sudanese Army troops, destroyed roughly 90 percent of Abyei town.

Now a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding as people displaced by fighting start to return to desolate villages, where even water boreholes have been badly damaged, following the withdrawal of Sudanese government troops in June 2012.

Displacement camps en route, already home to thousands and hugely over-stretched, are unable to feed them. Many are left to dig for roots and forage for edible leaves.

In Abyei town and its surrounds, a frequent flashpoint for violence, people are returning to find there is nothing left of their villages – as occupying Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) destroyed almost all buildings and infrastructure. Abyei is still a “no-go” area for most aid agencies, due to tight restrictions imposed by Khartoum and security concerns.

Humanitarian needs grow worse by the day, according to church leaders. They estimate that up to 20,000 people have arrived in the Abyei area already, with 2,000 reportedly arriving in Abyei town in a single week recently.

One of the most appalling situations is to be found in 60 km from Abyei town in Agok, a major staging post for returnees and the biggest centre for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the area.

With their own church premises and compounds almost completely destroyed too, church leaders formed an Inter-Church Committee (ICC), representing Roman Catholic, Episcopal Church of Sudan and Pentecostal congregations, to co-ordinate relief.  Their work recently received a boost when international partners managed the difficult logistics to deliver a convoy of 40 tons of sorghum, 1,500 mosquito nets and medicine to Agok. 

A team member involved in this delivery in late October described the situation as “shocking.” “Occupation by the SAF has left the area in complete shambles,” he said. “The infrastructure is completely destroyed. Is Abyei important only because of its oil . . . and not because of its indigenous people?”

The ICC is providing food, water, shelter and education, as well as peace-building initiatives and trauma-healing; in the longer term, it wants also to extend its areas such as healthcare and rebuilding livelihoods.

Church leaders say the few aid agencies still working in Agok, such as the World Food Programme, give IDPs priority over returnees in food distributions; even then, they say only half of IDPs are receiving food. Many of the IDPs in Agok have been there since the Sudanese troops invaded in May 2011, displacing up to 150,000 people. Many had also been displaced in earlier violence between SAF and Southern troops, in 2008.

People still shelter under emergency plastic sheeting and grass mats – and now it’s the rainy season, which brings rampant malaria and other water-borne diseases. One of the model church schools in Agok caters for up to 4,000 children – in space intended for 400.

The team member said he was struck by “a pervading sense of despondency. A great injustice has passed almost unnoticed before us. Displaced people feel they have been deserted by their own, and failed by their government who are there to protect them and create stability, and to uphold their word and promises.”

The ICC says local churches have been one of the few organisations to offer consistent support to IDPs since 2011, opening up their homes, building and compounds. ICC Chairman Father Biyong says: “They lost all their worldly belongings in the carnage that took place there. Due to the nature of the conflict, they were targeted because of their ethnic identity and religious affiliation.”

An independent advocate for Abyei’s population Tim Flatman, who’s visited the area several times, reports: “I doubt whether the community could have survived during the period of displacement without the influence of the Church. It gave people hope when it would have been easy to lose hope, and for the community to be scattered across South Sudan. When INGOs failed to get assistance to Agok, where 90,000 of the community were based, the Church was the vehicle by which surprise donations were made which replenished supplies for the most vulnerable as they were running out.”

There’s been widespread praise for the mainly Ethiopian peacekeeping troops with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), tasked with verifying the demilitarisation of Abyei, protecting the oil infrastructure and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid for six months from June. Yet, even UNISFA’s presence has not prevented pro-government of Sudan militias in Abyei from intimidating returnees, according to the ICC.

The churches are keen to preserve a strong Christian witness in an area so close to Sudan, where President al-Bashir has promised to extend Sharia law. The aid delivery included bibles and three motorbikes to enable church staff to travel between Agok and Abyei.

For now, the church’s efforts are focused on meeting urgent humanitarian needs, says ICC, but its witness is strong. Pastor Santino of the Episcopal Church of Sudan reports: “The church has grown in Agok, with more coming to faith as they realise God is the only one they can rely on.”

Abyei was described as a “historical bridge” between North and South Sudan in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended decades of civil war, yet it has become a political football. Its strategic location and mineral deposits make it important to both sides.

Tensions between Sudan and South Sudan brought them to the brink of all-out war earlier this year, prompting the UN to set a deadline for both sides to reach agreement on all outstanding issues.

On Sept. 27, both sides ratified agreements on trade, oil and security, facilitated by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). Yet, there is still no agreement on Abyei and five other disputed border areas, which most observers see as vital for securing lasting peace between the two nations.

South Sudan has agreed a Sept. 21 African Union proposal by chief mediator Thabo Mbeki to resolve the Abyei question. Sudan, however, has so far rejected it, due to ongoing concerns about the proposed referendum in Abyei and associated voting rights. Sudan was dismayed that Arab Misseriyanomadic herdsmen, who are loyal to the North, were not included as eligible voters; these nomads graze cattle for part of each year on land that is home to the Ngok Dinka, who are mainly Christian and closely linked to the South. Khartoum insists a political solution is preferable to a vote.

The AUHIP has given both sides six weeks from Oct. 24 to reach consensus on the status of Abyei. If they do not, the AU will endorse the proposal as “final and binding” and will seek endorsement by the UN Security Council.

ICC also has made an urgent appeal to the worldwide church for prayer. “Pray for the security situation, for peace and stability. Pray that those who make decisions will make them in favour of the people of the land, that those who sit there will remember we are a people as they are.”

**********

Copyright 2012 Open Doors News

Iraqi Christians 'Feel Forgotten', and Are Fleeing to Other Countries

By Michael Ireland
Special Reporter, ASSIST News Service

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (ANS) -- As the Middle East continues to be in turmoil, an Anglican minister serving in Iraq says that he us seeing more believers fleeing Iraq.

Canon Andrew White, the popular 'Vicar of Baghdad.'

Canon Andrew White, who serves as Vicar of St. George's in Baghdad, writes: "As I watch television, I see stories of killings in Gaza, Israel and Syria -- such terrible news. 40 people killed in Gaza, 3 in Israel and 9 in Syria; that is 52 people, quite terrible."

Canon White wrote: "By 12.00 today there had been serious bombings and 119 people had been killed.

"Just as we were about to go to our service I wrote on my Facebook account the following: 'We are about to go and worship now. G-d has not left us, everybody else has. We have just had 119 people killed in two terrible car bombs and you do not see even one line about in any of the international media.'"

"Our people are really frightened and feel forgotten," said Canon White.

"People have started fleeing again in their masses, things are just so bad. People have nothing.

"One of our staff saw one of our congregation begging on the street yesterday. He asked her why she was doing this. She said all the food she had from Church has run out and she has no money to pay her rent. We will give her everything she needs today, but another example of the terrible needs. All may have left us, but our Lord is still here."

Canon White explained that "none of our people were in the bombings, but things have so deteriorated here recently."

He continued: "The violence is so terrible and once again we are seeing so many of our own people fleeing to Turkey and Lebanon. We have not seen people fleeing like this for several years."

He stated: "The fact is, we were warned by one of the most senior religious leaders that this was being planned. Iraq is no longer a news issue. We cannot blame the media for this. So many of the journalists have been targeted here and many killed, especially locals. The media have moved to the traumas elsewhere in the region."

Canon White concluded: "Our gospel reading today was from Mark 13. In it, Jesus tells the disciples that before the Second Coming there would 'wars and rumors of wars.'

"Well we have sure got them. Our congregation all took hope in this, because 'soon and very soon we are going to see the KING.'"

Rimsha Masih: Islamabad High Court reserves verdict on plea seeking case dismissal

Rimsha, a 14-year-old Christian girl, was arrested from a suburb of Islamabad on blasphemy allegations 

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- The Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved its verdict on an application seeking to dismiss the controversial case of Rimsha Masih, reported Express News, Pakistan, on Wednesday.

Police arrest picture of Rimsha Masih

The case was heard by IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman.

"During the hearing, Rimsha's lawyer said that the case was fabricated and there were no witnesses to it. The burnt pages of the Holy Quran were added later to the ashes, he maintained," said a story in the Express Tribune, (http://tribune.com.pk).

"The petitioner, however, said that he and his witnesses stand by their statements and the case was spoiled by the interior minister and the police."

The prosecutor informed the court that challans [Receipt for payment or delivery] against Rimsha and Maulvi Khalid Jadoon [also known as Khalid Jadoon Chishti] have been submitted to a lower court.

Police arrest picture of Rimsha Masih

Rimsha, the 14-year-old Christian girl, was arrested from a suburb of Islamabad on August 16 after a neighbor accused her of burning papers containing verses from the Quran, in breach of Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws.

On September 22, 2012, police investigating the case declared prayer leader Khalid Jadoon Chishti guilty, adding that there was no evidence against Rimsha and that he had framed her.

"Rimsha and her family, who have been in fear for their lives since the blasphemy allegations, were moved to an undisclosed location after her release on bail on September 8," added the story.

Christian Convert from Islam Beheaded in Somalia

Islamic extremists accuse young man of being spy, embracing 'foreign religion'

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

BARAWA, SOMALIA (ANS) -- Islamic extremists from Somalia's rebel Al-Shabaab militants on Friday (Nov. 16, 2012) brutally murdered a Christian in Somalia's coastal city of Barawa, accusing him of being a spy and leaving Islam, Christian and Muslim witnesses said.

Another shocking murder; this time of Zakaria Hussein Omar, 26, on Jan. 2 in Cee-carfiid village, nine miles outside of the Somali capital. Omar had worked for a Christian humanitarian organization that al Shabaab banned last year

According to the East Africa Correspondent for Morning Star News (http://morningstarnews.org), the extremists beheaded 25-year-old Farhan Haji Mose after monitoring his movements for six months, Christian sources said. 

Mose drew suspicion when he returned to Barawa, in Somalia's Lower Shebelle Region, in December 2011 after spending time in Kenya, underground Christians in Somalia told Morning Star News.

Kenya's population is nearly 83 percent Christian, according to Operation World, while Somalia's is close to 100 percent Muslim.

A crowd assembled in the coastal city on Friday morning to watch the slaughter of Mose, the sources said.

"His body was split into two, then carried away, only to be dumped near the beach of Barawa city," a Christian source who witnessed the murder told Morning Star News.

Other witnesses, Muslims, independently described the same scene. They and the Christian witness told Morning Star News that the Islamic extremists accused Mose of being a spy for foreigners and of embracing the "foreign religion of Christianity."

Loved ones of the deceased did not risk immediately recovering the body, fearing that the militants would consider them guilty by association and kill them as well. A source said a Muslim fisherman who came upon Mose's body this morning (Nov. 17) lamented, "What a brutal murder - why did the Al Shabaab kill this man? Did he deserve such a brutal death because he associated with the Christian people in Kenya?"

An al Shabaab rebel

The story went on to say that Mose, who had studied in Kenya, had a small cosmetics shop in in Barawa and had traveled to Kenya on business last year. He converted to Christianity in 2010 while in Kenya, sources said.

"I am saddened by the death of my friend Mose," said an underground Christian who had encouraged Mose in his faith after the young man had returned from Kenya.

A leader of the underground church in Somalia also confirmed the murder.

"Barawa, also called Brava, has come under control of the Al Shabaab rebels fighting the government. With a population of 545,000, the city is an international port in the Lower Shebelle Region, 113 miles (181 kilometers) southwest of the capital city of Mogadishu," the Morning Star correspondent said.

"Al Shabaab rebels have killed dozens of Christian converts from Islam since embarking on a campaign to rid Somalia of Christianity.

The insurgents, variously estimated at 3,000 to 7,000, seek to impose a stricter version of sharia (Islamic law) on Somalia.

"The transitional government in Mogadishu proclaims itself moderate, but it too has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam."

Designated a terrorist organization by several Western governments, Al Shabaab was one of several splinter groups that arose after Ethiopian forces toppled the Islamic Courts Union from power in Somalia in 2006.

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