MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on March 5 Islamists kidnapped and killed a pastor in Oulata, Mauritania.  Pastor Ahmadou Abu Bakr’s bullet-ridden body was found dumped on the outskirts of the city on the morning of March 6th.

Last year, Pastor Ahmadou had fled the city of Nema to Oulata, because he was threatened by a local Islamist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) because of his Christian witness.  Pastor Ahmadou’s murderers arrived from Nema in a 4-by-4 pickup truck, according to an eyewitness who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.”  Read more.

CBN News – “Many Christians in Egypt are concerned that members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists are poised to takeover the unstable country after a recent vote to amend Egypt’s Constitution.

Nearly 80 percent of Egyptians voted over the weekend in favor of a referendum that would ease restrictions on political participation and limit the presidency to two four-year terms.

The majority of Egypt’s tiny Christian community voted against the constitutional amendments.

Ramez Atallah, leader of the Bible Society of Egypt, is among the opponents.”  Source.

http://downloads.cbn.com/cbnnewsplayer/cbnplayer.swf?aid=21932

“DHAKA, Bangladesh, March 23 (CDN) — A Christian has been sentenced to one year in prison for ‘creating chaos’ by selling and distributing Christian books and other literature near a major Muslim gathering north of this capital city.

A magistrate court in Gazipur district handed down the sentence to Biplob Marandi, a 25-year-old tribal Christian, on Feb. 28 after he was arrested near the massive Bishwa Ijtema (World Muslim Congregation) on the banks of the Turag River near Tongi town on Jan. 21.

A copy of the verdict says that he was sentenced according to Section 296 of Bangladeshi law 1860 for ‘creating chaos at a religious gathering.’

‘Duty police found Marandi creating chaos as he was propagating his religion, Christianity, by distributing the tracts as a mobile court on Jan. 21 was patrolling near the field of the Bishwa Ijtema,’ the verdict reads. ‘The accusation – creating chaos at a Muslim gathering by distributing Christian booklets and tracts – against him was read out in the court before him, and he admitted it. He also told the court that he had mainly wanted to propagate his religion, Christianity.'”  Read more.

“Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A Christian woman lawyer in Malaysia was unsuccessful in her bid to obtain a permit to practice law before Shari’a courts. Victoria Jayaseele Martin said she wanted to represent non-Muslims. Malaysia has a dual legal system, a secular system for non-Muslim Malaysians and a religious one for Muslims, who constitute the country’s majority.

Ms Jayaseele Martin objected to a decision by a religious council to bar non-Muslim lawyers from Shari’a courts, but a judge in Kuala Lumpur rejected her claim. She said however that she would appeal to a higher court to argue that the ruling against her was unconstitutional.”  Read more.

“Egypt Air, the largest airline in Egypt, has removed Israel from the map – literally. On its website, Ynet has learned, Jordan’s land reaches the Mediterranean Sea.

The airline’s subsidiary, Air Sinai, flies to Israel regularly, but customers seeking flights to Ben Gurion National Airport will have a hard time finding them. On the map are the names of the Mideast capitals – Amman, Beirut, and Damascus – but Israel is nowhere to be found.

Egypt Air is the first large airline to have omitted the state from its map of destinations. Other airlines based in Muslim countries, such as Turkish Airlines and Royal Jordanian, include Israel and Tel Aviv on its maps.

The omission is especially odd seeing as the company continues to fly to Israel four times a week. Cairo-Tel Aviv flights were temporarily halted following the recent uprising that overturned the government, but were then reinstated.

There has also been an increase in passengers on Air Sinai’s flights. According to the Airports Authority, the airline saw an increase of 27% in 2010 from the year previous.”  Source.

“KARACHI, Pakistan, March 22 (CDN) — Two Christians were gunned down and two others are in a serious condition with bullet wounds after Muslim youths attacked them outside a church building in Hyderabad last night, witnesses said.

Residents of Hurr Camp, a colony of working-class Christians in Hyderabad in Sindh Province, were reportedly celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Salvation Army church when a group of Muslim youths gathered outside the building and started playing music loudly on their cell phones. They also started teasing Christian women as they arrived for the celebration, according to reports.

Christians Younis Masih, 47, Siddique Masih, 45, Jameel Masih, 22, and a 20-year-old identified as Waseem came out of the church building to stop the Muslim youths from teasing the Christian women, telling them to respect the sanctity of the church. A verbal clash ensued, after which the Muslim youths left, only to return with handguns.”  Read more.