MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“SKOPJE, Macedonia — Police arrested 20 radical Islamists for the murder of five ethnic Macedonian fishermen in an early morning raid Tuesday, authorities said. The killing last month fueled tension in the tiny Balkan country between majority Macedonians and the mostly Muslim Albanian minority.

The suspects have been charged with terrorism, Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska said. She did not specify whether they all belonged to the same ethnic group, saying simply that they were all Macedonian citizens.

The victims were not directly connected with the suspects, Jankuloska told reporters.

‘The intention of this crime was to create a sense of insecurity and fear among the general population,’ she said.

Tensions between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians have simmered since the end of an armed rebellion in 2001, when ethnic Albanian rebels fought Macedonian government forces for about eight months, seeking greater rights for their community. The conflict left 80 people dead, and ended with the intervention of NATO troops.

Ethnic Albanians make up a quarter of Macedonia’s population of 2.1 million. Most Macedonians are Christian Orthodox.

About 800 police were involved in Tuesday’s operation, called ‘Monster,’ raiding 26 houses around the Macedonian capital of Skopje and seizing weapons, bullet proof vests and Islamic literature, Jankuloska said.

All of the suspects had fought in Afghanistan and Pakistan, she said.

The suspects were followers ‘of radical Islam, which is generally a danger for Christianity,’ she said. ‘They all have the capacity to commit such a horrible act.'” Read more.

By Mathias Hariyadi, AsiaNews.it – “Jakarta (AsiaNews) – The ongoing protests by a Muslim extremist fringe has led to the closure of three Christian places of worship in the province of Aceh, the only province in Indonesia where Shariah (Islamic law) is enacted. According to the radical movement the churches were illegal and they have demanded – under threat – the intervention of the authorities. The local administration used the pretext of an alleged lack of building permits, to seal up the buildings. One of the three is a small – historical – Catholic chapel, open for almost 40 years and full of faithful during celebrations. Although an overwhelmingly Muslim area, the province of Aceh has always been characterized by a ‘spirit of tolerance’ and this is the ‘first case’ of an intervention by authorities against places of worship of the Christian minority.

The authorities closed the three Christian buildings in Aceh last May: the Catholic Church in Napagaluh, Singkil, a sub-district of Paris Danau, the Protestant Gereja Kristen Pakpak Dairi, and also the Napagaluh Catholic Church of St. Paul, in the village of Lae Balno. A Singkil district official explains that, according to law, they are all without a building permit (IMB, Izin Mendirikan Bangunan).

The Napagaluh Catholic church, in fact, is a ‘small, historic’ prayer chapel – undung-undung in the local language – which opened in 1974 and is attended by dozens of faithful each week for the liturgies. In 38 years there were never any incidents, protests or tensions with local residents, who are overwhelmingly Muslim.

The closure is the result of a long series of protests promoted in recent times, by Islamic extremist movements in the area. Among these the Singkil Muslim Forum, which denounces the “proliferation” of Christian churches in the region.” Read more.

By Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post – “WASHINGTON – The head of a California-based evangelical religious liberty group stated Thursday that Christianity is presently the most persecuted religion on earth based on evidence gathered.

Dr. Carl Moeller told The Christian Post at an event on rising religious intolerance abroad that Christians are ‘the most persecuted in the world’ when the nonprofit examined religious groups suffering from increased persecution.

‘In terms of sheer numbers, the large size of the Christian populations around the world, where they’re repressed or restricted… Whether you count martyrs, those killed, or you count those living in regimes, sizable Christian populations live under extreme restrictions in places like China, Indonesia, and of course the Middle East,’ said Moeller…

‘Where we see it most notably is in Islamic societies where an intentional misrepresentation of other faiths is primary…’

Moeller’s remarks came at a press conference focused on the increased persecution of religious minorities in the Middle East and North Africa…

… Moeller spoke about the growing problems for Christians in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Nigeria. When talking about Nigeria, which is in the news regularly for bomb attacks by an extremist Islamic group called Boko Haram, Moeller held up photos of bombed churches and businesses taken over the past few months.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Bloody’: Christian Persecution is ‘Coursing Through Muslim-Majority Nations from One End of the Globe to the Other’ – “We hear so often about Muslims as victims of abuse in the West and combatants in the Arab Spring’s fight against tyranny. But, in fact, a wholly different kind of war is underway—an unrecognized battle costing thousands of lives. Christians are being killed in the Islamic world because of their religion. It is a rising genocide that ought to provoke global alarm… The conspiracy of silence surrounding this violent expression of religious intolerance has to stop. Nothing less than the fate of Christianity—and ultimately of all religious minorities—in the Islamic world is at stake.” Read more.

Not only are Christians now being imprisoned throughout Iran, so are those who dare defend them …

“Prominent human rights advocate and attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, who represents the Christian pastor sentenced to death in Iran in a case that sparked international condemnation, has reportedly been sentenced to nine years in jail for allegedly ‘acting against national security’ in Iran.

Dadkhah has represented several political and human rights activists jailed since Iran’s 2009 disputed elections, including Youcef Nadarkhani, the Iranian pastor charged with apostasy and sentenced to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity.

‘I have been convicted of acting against the national security, spreading propaganda against the regime and keeping banned books at home,’ Dadkhah told the Guardian. Dadkhah has also reportedly been banned from teaching at universities or practicing law for 10 years.

The American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ, which has been working to secure the release of Nadarkhani, fears the decision to jail Dadkhah puts the Christian pastor at greater risk.” Read more.

Flashback: Iran’s Final Verdict: Allah’s Law Has Spoken, Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Should Be Killed for Rejecting Islam – “A trial court in Iran has issued its final verdict, ordering a Christian pastor to be put to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, according to sources close to the pastor and his legal team. Supporters fear Youcef Nadarkhani, a 34-year-old father of two who was arrested over two years ago on charges of apostasy, may now be executed at any time without prior warning, as death sentences in Iran may be carried out immediately or dragged out for years.” Read more.

He will. I guarantee you, He will …

Mohabat News – “A number of plain clothes security officers raided the homes of two Christian converts in Tehran simultaneously and arrested them. The mother of one of the detained Christians asked, ‘Where are you taking my daughter?’ But the authorities ironically replied, ‘Ask Jesus Christ to come and release her’!

According to reporters of Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, reports from Tehran state that on the morning of April 14, 2012 some security authorities raided the homes of two Christian converts by the names of Ladan N. and Hooman H. simultaneously and arrested them there.

The security authorities, among whom were plain clothes agents, entered the homes without showing any warrant and arrested the two Christians without providing any explanation. Both Christians were then transferred to an unknown location immediately following their arrest.

A source aware of the situation, confirmed the news and told Mohabat News, ‘The agents were wearing plain clothes and did not introduce themselves. They forced their way into the house and took Ladan with them. They didn’t even allow her to put on appropriate clothes. In reply to her mother’s question, ‘Where are you taking my daughter?’ they just said, ‘Ask Jesus Christ to come and release her’!

According to this knowledgeable source, the authorities thoroughly searched the house and confiscated a number of her personal belongings including her laptop, camera and books as well as pictures of her friends being baptized in a foreign country.

The report says that the families of these detained Christians are unaware of their situation and are very worried about their health. Their efforts to visit their children and obtain information on their situation have been to no avail.” Read more.

Compass Direct News – “A judge in Upper Egypt has upheld a six-year prison sentence for a Coptic Christian wrongly convicted of ‘blasphemy’ against Islam and inciting sectarian strife, his lawyer said.

The judge in Assuit on April 5 refused to strike down a Feb. 29 sentence delivered to Makarem Diab, 49, of the town of Abnoub in Assuit Province. The charges stem from an argument that Diab had in February with Abd Al Hameed, a fellow employee at Deer Al Gabrawy Prep School.

From the start, the charges against Diab were inflated, according to his lawyer, Ahmed Sayed Gebaly.

‘I know Makarem well, because we grew up together, and I know he wouldn’t do that,’ said Gebaly, a Muslim. ‘To be honest, he didn’t do anything wrong. If he did, I will have told him.’

Gebaly said he was surprised by how far Al Hameed took the accusations. ‘The whole thing was just an ordinary discussion,’ he said.

Al Hameed told Diab, an administration worker, that Jesus had sex with at least 10 women who were ‘Mehram’ or forbidden to Him under Islamic law (though Islam appeared more than six centuries after Jesus), according to Gebaly. Mehram status refers to forbidden marriage or sexual relations, such as those between immediate family members.

Diab countered Al Hameed’s claims – for which there is no historical record – by stating that Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic religion, had more than four wives – a view commonly held by Islamic scholars, though disputes arise over whether he had more than four wives over the course of his life or at one time.

For reasons that are not publicly known, Al Hameed waited for 11 days to report his allegations against Diab to a misdemeanor court. Police arrested Diab and held him for four days before he was presented to a judge. On Feb. 29, in a 10-minute court hearing with no defense attorney present, the judge sentenced Diab to six years in prison for ‘insulting the prophet’ and ‘provoking students.'” Read more.

The Globe and Mail – “Gunmen attacked church services on a university campus Sunday in northern Nigeria, using small explosives to draw out and gun down panicking worshippers in an assault that killed at least 16 people, officials said.

The attackers targeted an old section of Bayero University’s campus where religious groups use a theatre and other areas to hold worship services, Kano state police spokesman Ibrahim Idris said. The assault left many others seriously wounded, Mr. Idris said.

‘By the time we responded, they entered (their) motorcycles and disappeared into the neighborhood,’ the commissioner said.

After the attack, police and soldiers cordoned off the campus as gunfire echoed in the surrounding streets. Abubakar Jibril, a spokesman for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, said security forces refused to allow rescuers to enter the campus. Soldiers also turned away journalists from the university.

Andronicus Adeyemo, an official with the Nigerian Red Cross, said a canvas of local hospitals and morgues showed the attack killed at least 16 people. A number of people suffered injuries, though the aid agency did not immediately have an exact figure, Mr. Adeyemo said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility. However, Mr. Idris said the attackers used small explosives packed inside of aluminum soda cans for the assault, a method previously used by a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.” Read more.

By Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Middle East Service – “TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– Iranian security forces have destroyed a 200-year-old Christian cemetery in southeastern Iran after they earlier used bulldozers to remove an historical church in the area, Iranian Christians said in comments monitored by BosNewsLife Thursday, April 26.

The cemetery attack, discovered this month in Kerman province, is no isolated incident. Iranian Christians said that ‘all the crosses have been taken out of the ground’ at another historical British cemetery in the southwestern port city of Bushehr, near the site where Iran develops a controversial nuclear facility.

The burial ground had also been used by the Christian Armenian minority of Bushehr but now seems to approach ‘complete destruction’, said Iranian Christians with close knowledge about the situation.

There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials on the situation in Busher.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Christian news agency Mohabat News said however it had obtained comments from Mohammad Mehdi Afzali, public relations chief of Iran’s Cultural Heritage organization, in which he admitted that the ‘destruction’ of the Kerman cemetery.

Afzali reportedly said the removal of graves was part of attempts by his group and local authorities to ‘release lands’ in the areas of Ghal’e-Dokhtar and Ghal’e Ardeshir around a historical castle in eastern hills.” Read more.

Compass Direct News – “JUBA, South Sudan, April 26 (CDN) — Christians faced increased hostilities in Sudan over the past few weeks, culminating in an attack on a Christian compound in Khartoum by a throng of Muslim extremists armed with clubs, iron rods, a bulldozer and fire.

Breaking down the compound wall with a bulldozer, the assailants on Saturday (April 21) set fire to the Gerief West Bible School and the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) building; they also damaged three other places of worship and other buildings in the same compound, sources told Compass by telephone. Also damaged were a clinic, a home for the elderly, classrooms and living quarters.

‘What happened could not be imagined – it was terrible,’ said the Rev. Yousif Matar, general secretary of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church synod. ‘They burned all furniture of the school and the church as well.’

Following a fiery call by hard-line Muslim sheikh Muhammad Abdel Kareem on Friday (April 20) to a crowd of more than 500 to destroy ‘the infidels’ church,’ he led the attack the next day, sources said.

‘Tomorrow at 8 a.m., Muslims in this area must gather in front of the infidels’ church and destroy them,’ Kareem told the crowd, according to Compass sources.

The next morning, according to Christian support organization Open Doors, authorities held the mob back about a kilometer from the compound, but the assailants dispersed and found their way back early in the afternoon.

‘Police at the compound stood back and did nothing to prevent the mob from vandalizing the compound,’ Open Doors stated in a press release. ‘There was no cordon around the Bible school or church, as some have stated in other media reports.'” Read more.