MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

The Cypress Times – “Washington, DC – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that over the past month, Saudi officials have been making conflicting statements when asked why a group of 35 Ethiopian Christians were arrested at a prayer service in a private home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last December.

The statements were made over a period of several weeks after staff members from multiple Congressional offices began calling the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C. to inquire into the situation. The calls began soon after ICC held a series of meetings during the last week of April on Capitol Hill to raise awareness of the case and to ask for calls from Senators, Representatives, and their staff to the Saudi Embassy.

On Monday, May 7th, a Congressional office told ICC that a source close to the Saudi ambassador had indicated the Christians were arrested as part of an investigation into a large scale human smuggling ring. This explanation contradicted the original rationale published by Human Rights Watch in January that the group had been accused of the ‘illicit mingling of genders.’

Then, just three days later, Sarah Nezamuddin, a representative from the Embassy, told a separate Congressional office that the Christians had all been arrested for having issues with their work permits. ICC proceeded to provide a list of the prisoners with legal work permit numbers to the Congressional office, and after some follow up, Ms. Nezamuddin changed the explanation and said that the Christians were involved in both drug and human trafficking.

Finally, on May 21st, in a meeting with staff members from multiple Congressional offices, representatives from the Saudi government said that the 35 Christians had been arrested for visa issues, but that they were also involved in some form of smuggling ring. When pressed for specifics, the Saudi officials reportedly demurred and changed the topic. At least one Congressional staff member left the meeting with the impression that neither Saudi official actually knew why the Christians were arrested in the first place.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Unprecedented’: Saudi Security Forces Raid Christian Prayer Meeting in Jeddah and Arrest 42 Christians, Many Beaten and Threatened with Death – “International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Saudi security forces arrested 42 Ethiopian Christians at a prayer gathering in Jeddah on Thursday … at the home of an Ethiopian Christian in the Al-Safa district of Jeddah. Those attending the service were reportedly beaten and threatened before being arrested. ‘Security officials broke [into] the house and captured… beat and threatened them for death… They divided the men and the women and they are torturing them [in prison],’ an Ethiopian and Eritrean Christian immigrant community living in Europe wrote in a desperate appeal for help to the ambassadors of European embassies in Riyadh on Friday.” Read more.