Amidst Terror Strikes Christian Persecution List Released

In the wake of murderous attacks by radical Muslims this week in Pakistan and Egypt, Open Doors, a ministry that monitors persecution of Christians around the globe, has released the annual World Watch List (WWL), which is a ranking of 50 countries where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is worst.

Despite Communist North Korea topping the annual Open Doors World Watch List (WWL) for the ninth consecutive year, the most dangerous countries in which to practice Christianity are overwhelmingly Islamic ones. Of the top 10 countries on the 2011 WWL, eight have Islamic majorities. Persecution has increased in seven of them.

The top 10 in order are North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Maldives, Yemen, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Laos, which has a Communist government. Iraq is new to the top 10 list while Mauritania dropped out, going from No. 8 to No. 13.

Download the World Watch List from Open Doors.

The eight Muslim-dominated countries on the list include:

• Iran, which clamps down on a growing house church movement;
• Afghanistan, where thousands of believers cluster deep underground; 
• Saudi Arabia, which still refuses to allow any Saudi person to convert to Christianity.
• Somalia, ruled by bloodthirsty terrorists threatening to kill Christian aid workers who feed Somalia’s starving, impoverished people;
• Maldives, which mistakenly boasts it is 100 percent Islamic;
• Yemen with its determination to expel all Christian workers; and
• Iraq, which saw extremists massacre 58 Christians in a Baghdad cathedral on Oct. 31.

Of the top 30 countries, only seven have a source other than Islamic extremists as the main persecutors of Christians.

Pakistani Governor Who Opposed Blasphemy Law Brutally Assassinated

The murdered governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, was buried amid tight security as Pakistanis once again face an assassination that exposes the militant extremism that has infiltrated the senior security forces.

Taseer was shot 27 times by one of his own bodyguards, who was reportedly enraged by Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws. (See related ChurchWatch story). The guard, Mumtaz Qadri, shot Taseer as he stepped into his car outside a shopping market in central Islamabad on Tuesday.

A member of the Punjab Elite police force, Qadri yelled "Allahu Akbar" as he emptied two magazines of bullets into the politician. Photos taken after the shooting showed the calm-looking Qadri being driven away by police -- at times smiling.

Qadri, who surrendered immediately, said he killed the governor because of his outspoken support for reforms to the draconian blasphemy laws, which were recently used to condemn a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, to death. The Pakistani blasphemy laws have been condemned by governments around the world.

Mourners gathered in the grounds of the colonial-era governor's residence in central Lahore for prayers before Taseer's body was flown by helicopter to the cemetery for burial. Taseer's three sons and a small group of mourners tossed rose petals over his coffin as the Punjab Rangers in fantail turbans delivered a military salute.

Soldiers and police blocked a large crowd of mourners from entering the cemetery with the hope of preventing further violence by religious extremists.

To highlight the growing rift between the government and Muslim extremist, a prominent group of Islamic scholars declared that the funeral prayers should not be offered and warned that anyone who expressed grief for Taseer could suffer the same fate. According to Guardian reporter, Declan Walsh, the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Pakistan group represents scholars from the mainstream Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims. Although considered moderate, they have led protests in favor of the blasphemy law.

"More than 500 scholars of the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat have advised Muslims not to offer the funeral prayers of Governor Punjab Salman Taseer, nor try to lead the prayers," the group said. "Also, there should be no expression of grief or sympathy on the death of the governor, as those who support blasphemy of the prophet are themselves indulging in blasphemy."

In Islamabad, police and intelligence officials continued to question Qadri.

According to Walsh, the assassination has provoked the most intense soul-searching in Pakistan since the death of the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007. "For beleaguered liberals, the killing is a sign of growing intolerance and a further reduction of the already limited space for expression of progressive ideas."

"If Pakistan and Pakistanis do not try to excise the cancer within, the future of this country is very bleak," said an editorial in Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.

Related CBN News Story: Slain Pakistan Blasphemy Governor Laid to Rest 

Egyptian Unrest After Bombing at Church

Earlier this week, at least 21 people were killed and scores were wounded on New Year's Day when a bomb outside a church in Alexandria, Egypt, exploded as congregants were leaving a New Year's Eve Mass celebration. The explosion ripped through the crowd shortly after midnight, killing instantly most of those who died, and leaving the entrance-way to the Church of the Two Saints, a Coptic Orthodox congregation, covered with blood and severed body parts.

The blast overturned at least one car, set several others on fire and shattered windows throughout the block on which the church is located. Egyptian authorities reportedly said 20 of the victims have been identified. At least 90 other people were injured in the blast, 10 seriously. Among the injured were eight Muslims.

In the aftermath of the attack, new revelations are casting further doubt on claims by the Mubarak government that “all Egypt is the target” of the bombings, and not just members of the Coptic Christian community.

A story released by the Assyrian International New Agency (AINA) has implicated Egyptian government security guards in the blast. In video circulating on the Internet, it appears that Muslim mobs greeted the explosion with shouts of triumph. 

The AINA story reports that according to eyewitnesses, a green Skoda car pulled up outside the church shortly after midnight. Two men got out, one of them talked shortly on his mobile phone, and the explosion occurred almost immediately after they left the scene. On the back of the Skoda was a sticker with the words "the rest is coming."

"Security should know that those who demonstrated are the hand of Al-Qaida in Egypt," said Hany el-Gezeiry, head of Copts4Egypt. "They should have arrested them to investigate who was behind them. They want to destroy Egypt from inside and the government kept quiet, giving them a free hand to do what they wanted. I believe Al-Qaida achieved what it wanted."

El-Gezeiry questions why the vehicle was allowed to park in front of the church in an area that had been cordoned off by security, when it was known that Al-Qaeda had already announced its intention of carrying out criminal acts against churches.

According to AINA, eyewitnesses have confirmed that security forces guarding the church withdrew nearly one hour before the blast, leaving only four policemen and an officer to guard such the large church and nearly 2000 people attending the midnight mass.

"Normally they would have waited until the mass was over," said el-Gezeiry, explaining that the Muslims were heard chanting "Allah Akbar."

"Is this a victory?" he asks. "Whoever saw this fire and people dying and body parts all over the place and could still chant 'Allah Akbar' is a terrorist." 

Related CBN News Story: Egypt Church Bomb Probe Focuses on Local Group

Open Doors Persecution Watch List Released