Iraq in the Bible; Pray for Iraq to be rebuilt with peace

Paul Ciniraj Mohamed, India

It is a great responsibility for the descendants of Abraham, especially the children of God to pray for Iraq and the innocent Christians, Muslims, Jews and others who are being persecuted nowadays. Certainly Iraq was the part of our forefathers and it really makes sentiments on our faith. It is indeed Iraq must be having peace. It must be rebuilt at any cost by the grace of God Almighty.

Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq means country with deep roots. Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible.

Persia was in the location of modern day Iran. Assyria and Babylon are in different parts of modern day Iraq.

1. Adam and Eve were created in Iraq (Genesis 2:7-8).
2. The garden of Eden was in Iraq (Genesis 2:10-14).
3. Satan made his first recorded appearance in Iraq (Genesis 3:1-6).4. Mesopotamia which is now Iraq was the cradle of civilization. 5. Noah built the ark in Iraq (Genesis 6:13-22). 6. Nimrod established Babylon and the Tower of Babel was built in Iraq: (Genesis 10:8-97;11:1-4).
7. The confusion of the languages took place in Iraq: Genesis 11:5-11.
8. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq (Genesis 11:31;Acts 7:2-4). 9. Isaac's wife Rebekka is from Nahor which is in Iraq.
10.Jacob spent 20 years in Iraq (Genesis 27:42-45;31:38).
11.The first world Empire was in Iraq (Daniel 1:1-2;2:36-38). 12.Assyria which is in Iraq conquered the ten tribes of Israel. 13.Babylon which is in Iraq destroyed Jerusalem. 14.The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (that's good news to know that JESUS has been in Iraq too as the 4th person in the fiery furnace) -- (Daniel 3: 20-26)..
15.Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the "writing on the wall" in Iraq.16.Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
17.The descendants of the Medes are the Kurds who are in parts of modern day northern Iraq. It was called the Medo-Persian Empire.
18.The greatest revival in history was in a city in Iraq (Jonah preached in Nineveh): Jonah 3.
19.The events of the book of Esther took place in Iraq: Esther.
20.Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
21.Amos cried out in Iraq.
22.The book of Nahum was a prophecy against a city in Iraq: Nahum. 23.The wise men were from Iraq.
24.Peter preached in Iraq. 25. The "Empire of Man" described in Revelation is called Babylon which was a city in Iraq! (Babylon was not only an empire but a capitol city at the heart of an empire. And that city, that heart, was in what is now Iraq): (Revelation: chapters 17,18).
26.No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated with it than Iraq.

I suppose Esther was the queen of the Persian king, so that shouldn't have been in Iraq. Also, I'm unclear whether Daniel in the Lions Den would have been in Iraq since that, too, happened under the Persian king. However, he could have stayed in Babylon and had it happen under the Persian regent.

Present Geography of Iraq

Location: Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait.
Iraqi Land Size : 432,162 sq km
Iraqi Climate/Weather : Mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq.
Iraqi Population : 25,374,691 (July 2004 est.).
Iraqi Capital City: Baghdad.
Iraqi Main Industries : petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing. Iraqi Agricultural products : wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, cotton; cattle, sheep.
Languages: Arabic (official language); Other languages: Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish.

Paul Ciniraj Mohamed,
Salem Voice Ministries.
http://salemvoice.org/

Indian Persecuted Christians gathered in Bangaluru

Bangaluru, SVM News, June 24, 2007: Christian victims of persecution and five widows of persons martyred for their Christian faith gathered in Bangalore on 21st and 22nd of June. A rally was also organized by the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) at MG Road, protesting the great increase in attacks against the Christian community in India.

The participants shared their grief and agony at the kind of treatment they faced at the hands of violent mobs, who indulged in raiding homes and places of worship and showed total disregard for law or any respect for human or constitutional rights.

Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said that though Christians composed less than 3 % of the country’s population their contribution of services of literacy, education, health, in areas where no one would – with the Leprosy affected, in remote tribal pockets, and among the poorest of the Poor. But still they were targeted for the worst violence like killing, public humiliation, destruction of churches and prayer halls, and exiling from the village.

“What crimes have they committed to get this kind of treatment? And instead of getting justice, the police often charge the victims and put them in jail. Bail is denied to them by magistrates. They are jailed on false charges. Murders are not investigated for years! We demand that justice be done in each case. We have documented 329 cases in the past 15 months,” he told.

Dr. Ruth Manorama, well-known human rights activist and Right Livelihood Award winner, said that the situation of violence against Christians in India was very grave. If there were no improvement, Christians would be forced to internationalise the issue by raising it inUNHRC, Geneva or in the United Nations.

GCIC submitted a Memorandum to the President of India requesting an independent enquiry into the country-wide incidence of violence against Christians by sections of Indian society. They urged the President to repeal the 1950 Presidential Order which abrogated some of the Constitutional Rights of Christians of Dalit descent by withdrawing their rights to reservations in education and employment.

Pastors Arrested in Zimbabwe for Giving Sweets to Children

Masvingo (Zimbabwe), SVM News, June 13, 2007: Three pastors were arrested in Masvingo in Zimbabwe by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) on Sunday, 10th June for distributing toys and sweets to the children.

Rev. Sonykis Chimbuya, Pastor Peter Bondai and Pastor Mugondi were the clergymen detained and interrogated by state security agents for distributing playing and eating materials to the kids.

In a bizarre case highlighting deep levels of paranoia in government, the agents of the Central Intelligence Organisation accused the pastors that they distributed campaign material of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which is Zimbabwe's biggest opposition party.

Pastor Peter Bondai and Mugondi were released after they were interrogated for more than three hours while Pastor Chimbuya was kidnapped and dumped along the Masvingo-Great Zimbabwe highway hours after his arrest.

"We are living in constant fear after the harassment at the hands of the CIO agents," Rev. Sonykis Chimbuya said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

"They just came to us and picked us one after the other. They asked us about the material we were distributing to various church organisations," said the churchmen.

"One of us was kidnapped and was only released after they had proved beyond doubt that the items we were distributing were in fact toys," They added.

The CIO agents also demanded that the pastors write down their sermons and present them to the secret agents for vetting before delivery.

State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa could not be reached for comment on the matter.

President Robert Mugabe last month warned church leaders to steer clear of politics after Catholic bishops denounced the Zimbabwean government over its human rights record.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Woman Pastor Stabbed to Death in Great Barrington

Great Barrington (USA), SVM News, June 11, 2007: The dinamic pastor of the Clinton AME Zion Church Rev. Esther Dozier, 65, stabbed to death in her Railroad Avenue home on Monday, the 11th of June., Her husband, Henry E. Dozier Sr., has been arrested and charged with her murder.

"Esther Dozier appears to have been stabbed multiple times. Her body was found early Monday morning," Police Chief William Walsh said.

Henry Dozier was spotted by Lenox Police as he was driving north on Route 7, and was arrested in the parking.

"He was taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, after telling police that he had ingested a poison substance," David Capeless, District Attorney of Berkshire County told to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

Prosecutors have not said how Esther died.

Esther Dozier moved to Great Barrington from Alabama in the 1960s. She had been pastor of the Clinton AME Zion Church since 2000.

Anthropologist David Levinson said in a book about history of the church that Esther Dozier helped create an African-American Heritage Trail that extends through the Berkshires from Pittsfield to the Connecticut line.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Millions affected viral fever in Kerala; Several dead

Kottayam (Kerala, India), SVM News, June 10, 2007: According the official reports, about 800,000 people in Kerala have been affected by viral fever and undergoing treatment in different government and private hospitals in the last three week till yesterday. The unofficial report says more than three million people affected by viral fever.

Thousands upon thousands have been identified with mosquito-borne chikungunya fever. Denki fever, rat fever and Malaria also found.

Reports from Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam districts indicate that around 100 people have died due to high fever in the last three weeks.

Government was fighting hard to contain the spread of the epidemic in the State, V S Achuthanandan, Chief Minister of Kerala said.

With the viral fever spreading throughout the State and increase in number of cases each day, a cleanliness drive would be organised in the State for a week from June 12 to contain the spread of the epidemic. The Defence, police and various NGOs would be part of the drive, Mr Achuthanandan said.

Kerala's central districts like Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki were among the worst affected, accounting for nearly two third of the affected.

Following the request from the Health Minister P K Sreemathi, Union Defence Minister A K Antony has urged the Army, Navy and Military forces to give full support to the state government in the fever containment measures.

The Southern Naval Command deputes medical teams to assist the authorities including doctors and para-medical staff, fully equipped with required medicines and medical equipment to treat the patients. And also an expert team from the Defence comprising doctors and paramedical staff from Pune Armed Forces Hospital reached to help the state government in containing the spreading of viral fever and chikungunya.

The expert teams from Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram visiting the fever-affected areas of Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss will send the Director General of Health to the state to assess the situation.

It has asked private hospitals to open special wards for patients suffering from fever and to submit a list of the number of patients arriving for treatment.

Free ration would be supplied for a month in the affected regions adding that the Government was also considering payment of relief for the relatives of the dead, Chief Minister said.

All political parties in the State promised their active involvement in the cleanliness drive when Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan called the leaders for an all-party meeting here on Saturday to discuss the measures required to handle the crisis.

The affected people came mostly from the weaker sections of society.

Viral fever severely affected several mission stations of Salem Voice Ministries and hundreds of it's members admitted in different hospitals. "We pray and give top priority for the cleanliness drive to prevent the spread of the disease to new areas," Rev. Paul Ciniraj, the Director of the Salem Voice Ministries and the national president of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) said.

"Please pray for our people. They face Christian persecution in one side, and another side poverty and congagious diseases," Paul Ciniraj said.

News at the SVM site: http://salemvoice.org/news173.html

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Center for Persecuted Christians: http://salemvoice.org/center4persecuted.html

Christian worker severly beaten in Kerala

Kannur (Kerala, India), SVM News, June 9, 2007: Sunny Thomas, 40, one of the Gospel workers of the Salem Voice Ministries severly beaten by Hindu radicals at Korom Pallithara at Payyannur in Kannur District on 6th of June.

Radicals under the leadership of Prasad, a neighbour, attacked Sunny on Wednesday night. Both of his hands were broken. Immediately he is admitted at Pariyaram Medical College hospital.

Police registered a case and started investigation.

Prasad and Sunny had a quarrel because water has been spread out at Prasad's land when Sunny pumped the motor.

Rev. Paul Ciniraj, the national president of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) and the Director of the Salem Voice Ministries condemned the attack towards Sunny and the christian persecution of the entire nation.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Church Converted into Mosque by Force

Baghdad, SVM News, June 7, 2007: Muslim extremists attacked two churches in the Dora district of Baghdad on Tuesday, the 5th of June. They killed security guards at one church and forcibly turned the other church into a mosque.

Several security guards were killed at St John the Baptist Church in Hay Al-Athoriyeen. St Jacob's Church in Hay al Asya was vandalized and forcibly turned into a mosque. St Jacob's Church had previously been attacked in October of 2004.

At the same time as the churches were being attacked, the funeral Mass for Chaldean Catholic Priest Father Ragheed Ganni, was being celebrated in Karamles by Archbishop Faraj Rahho of Mosul amidst tight security.

Sarkis Aghajan, the minister of finance of the regional Kurdish government attended the service.

By this time some christian groups said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that they demand an Assyrian region at the border with Kurdistan in Northern Iraq.

Fr Ragheed Ganni, 35, a parish priest, and three deacons, were shot dead on 3 June, in front of the Holy Spirit Church in the Nur District of Mosul.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Gospel for Muslims: http://salemvoice.org/gospel2muslims.html
Center for Persecuted Christians in India and third world:
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Bishop of Indian Orthodox Church killed in accident

Kottayam (India), SVM News, June 7, 2007: Augen Mar Dionysious, 52, one of the metropolitan's of the Indian Orthodox Syrian Church and the bishop of Idukki diocese, was killed in an accident at Kodungoor in between Kottayam and Thekkady in Kottayam District of Kerala in India at about 9 am on Wednesday, the 6th of June.

The metropolitan was proceeding to the bishop's house at Chakkupallom in Idukki from Vallikkatu Dayara (Monastery) at Vakathanam when his car collided with a private bus which was on its way from Mundakkayam to Kottayam, police sources said.

Augen Mar Dionysius was ordained as bishop on the month of March, 2005. He was the youngest of the Bishop's Council of the Indian orthodox Church.

Baselios Marthoma Dydimos I, the Catholicose of the East is the Supreme head of the Indian Orthodox Church. He is the 90th successor of St.Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ.

Driver of the car was admitted to the medical college hospital in Kottayam.

The body was taken to the office of the Supreme headquarters of the Indian Orthodox Church at Devalokam Catholicate Palace in Kottayam after postmortem. He will be laid to rest today at Vakathanam Dayara, official sources said.

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Bodies of Indian Children found in Missouri City Creek

Missouri City (USA), SVM News, June 6, 2007: The bodies of Simpson Simon, 12, and Sharon Simon, 10, were discovered on the banks of Oyster Creek near Murphy Road in Missouri City on Saturday morning. The siblings, children of Simon Jacob and Cicily Thomas of Mudiyoorkunnel were reported missing Friday night.

According to police reports, Simon Jacob was with the children at the family's home near the 4500 block of Shadow Briar when the children apparently decided to walk to a nearby Wal-Mart. Cicily Thomas discovered the children missing when she returned home from work at 9 p.m.

Missouri City police officers, along with officers and bloodhounds from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, were mobilized to search the area surrounding the home before the children's sandals were located near FM 1092.

Houston Police Department divers retrieved Sharon's body at 7:30 a.m. and Simpson's body was found 15 feet away five hours later. Foul play was not suspected, they said.

They are the immigrants from Mudiyoorkunnel House of Kuruppanthara at Kottayam in India. Recently they purchased the Missouri City home.

Rev. James Charuvil said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that Simon and Cicily are parents and they had only two children, so it's a big loss for them. Rev. James Cheruvil is the pastor of Knanaya Catholic Community Center in at Houston. "It's very sad. They were a close family. It affects lots of the (Indian) community," he added.A prayer service, sponsored by the Knanaya Catholic Community, was held at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church on Saturday evening. The wake for the children is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday from 5-10 p.m. at the Houston Knanaya Catholic Community Center, 2210 Staffordshire Road in Missouri City. Funeral services are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 12627 W. Bellfort in Sugar Land."As Christians, we must have faith. We are pilgrims here. We are just travelers here and everyone has to die. We have to convince (the parents) to accept the truth. It takes time." Rev. James Cheruvil said.

Rev. Paul Ciniraj, Director of Salem Voice Ministries and the National President of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) visited Mudiyoorkunnel family at Kuruppanthara in Kottayam and expressed deep condolence.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Kuwaiti Pastor speaks on church rejection

KUWAIT: "Freedom of religion in Kuwait is absolute and it's stated in our constitution. We are happy that we can practice our religion freely and we enjoy the support of the government," Reverend Pastor Emmanuel Ghareeb, a Kuwaiti pastor and a titular head of the National Evangelical Church in Kuwait told Kuwait Times yesterday on the issue on the alleged refusal of the Kuwaiti government to grant a permit to build a new church for Catholics in Hawally.

The Catholic Church was not available for comments when contacted by the Kuwait Times, but according to previous reports, it was the same application that was earlier rejected years back when other branches of the Christian faith applied for the same permit and were reportedly rejected.

The Roman Catholic Church has the biggest number of followers in Kuwait with parishioners hailing from India, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Egypt among others. They have churches in Ahmadi, Kuwait City and Salmiya but they believed the Hawally Church could benefit and serve more believers living in the vicinity and neighbouring areas.

The reports of refusal was carried by Al-Watan newspaper recently which cited no reasons for the rejection, but prompted Moussa Al-Sarraf, the Minister of Public Works and Minister for Municipal Affairs to inquire about the decision. Al-Sarraf explained that the Municipal Council had no clear justification for refusal and no details of any voting procedure, which should have been followed before making any decision.

It can be recalled that in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture in Germany, which sparked worldwide protests by Muslims for offending Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Pope later apologized for offending Islam, but cited it was a quote taken from a centuries-old religious leader and it was not intentionally quoted to offend Muslims but was to support his lecture about 'Faith, Reason and the University - Memories and Reflections'.

"I am sure there is no refusal issue. We can build a church and it is guaranteed by the constitution. But we accept the fact that we cannot evangelize openly and we respect that because we are living in an Islamic country," Ghareeb noted.

There are about 200 Kuwaiti Christians here and according to Ghareeb, they are "enjoying freedom and are not experiencing suppression or persecution by the dominant religion". According to Ghareeb, their children can play, work and enjoy privileges just like Muslims. The Church compound also welcomes a number of Muslims exchanging goodwill greetings with each other, stressed Ghareeb.

Source: Kuwait Times.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Pastor arrested second time for 3 days in Belarus

Republic of Belarus, SVM News, June 5, 2007: Antony Bokun, the pastor of the John the Baptist's Church in Dauginausky Trakt in Minsk was sentenced by the Central District Court to 3 days' arrest.

Pastor Antony Bokun was detained in his apartment when he was conducting worship service. He was brought to the militia department of the Central District of Minsk.

John the Baptist's Church is a Protestant Church, associated with United Church of Christians of the Evangelic Belief.

The law enforcement body participants declared that Antony Bokun conducted a religious service in his house on Sunday without special sanctions. It is to be mentioned that for the same reason he was detained 27 May. Then he was brought to the prison in Okrestina Street where he was kept until the trial. 28 May the Central District Court penalized the amount to the amount of $290 USDollars for the unsanctioned religious service.

"A police squad entered the house during what they described as an "unauthorized" religious service and arrested Pastor Bokun. The minister was brought to the Tsentralny district police department and then taken to the detention center on Akrestsina Street, where he was expected to spend the night. He is likely to stand trial on a charge of organizing and conducting a religious meeting with permission on Monday", lawyer Syarhey Lukanin said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

"Given pastor Antony Bokun's second arrest within a week and the fact that police officers were recording the license plate numbers of the cars entering the territory of New Life Church of Belarus' Association of Full Gospel Christians on the morning of June 3, one may say that the authorities have declared an open war on Protestants," Mr. Lukanin added.

Members of all Minsk-based congregations affiliated with the Association of Full Gospel Christians were scheduled to gather in a church on Sunday to pray for the democratization of the country's religion law.

A co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democracy and an applicant for holding a rally Alyaksei Shein has received a refusal of Minsk city executive committee for holding a picket in defense of freedom of worship. The protest was to take place on June 8 in Bangalore Square in Minsk.

Original news at SVM site: http://salemvoice.org/news167.html

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Muslim Extremists Stormed Church in Indonesia

Jakarta, SVM News, June 4, 2007: Muslim extremists vandalized a church in Indonesia during services, smashing images of Jesus Christ and demanding that it be closed down, the pastor said on Monday.

Dozens of churches have had to be closed in the Muslim-majority country in recent years, and Sunday's attack was the second on the small Protestant church in the West Java town of Soreang since 2005.

Reverend Robby Elisa, who heads the church, said around 100 hardliners attacked while Sunday school was in session. He said his wife was beaten and that at least four stained glass depictions of Jesus were smashed.

"They came and forced their way into the church," he said. "The attackers claimed to be from the Anti-Apostate Movement Alliance. The same group had already attacked the church in 2005."

The secretary of the church's headquarters in Jakarta, Reverend Budi Setiawan, said that the attack had been reported to the Indonesian Church Association (PGI).

West Java, where Islam is strong, has seen a series of attacks on churches to force their closure.

The Jakarta Post newspaper said that more than 30 churches have had to close their door in West Java since 2004 because of attacks by Muslim hardliners. Dozens of churches have also been forced to close in other provinces, it said.

According to a current decree by the religious affairs ministry, houses of worship must obtain the approval of at least 60 percent of local residents and have at least 90 followers to be able to operated.

Elisa said that his church was small and only had a congregation of some 20 adults and 40 children and teenagers.

"Where else can we go? We are too far from the city and our congregation needs a place to worship," Elisa said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service..

The district police chief could not be immediately reached for comment, and the officer on duty at the district police declined to comment.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation with over 90 percent of its 220 million people adherents of Islam.

Although the constitution gives all religions equal footing, laws make it difficult for religions other than Islam to establish houses of worship.

News at SVM site: http://salemvoice.org/news166.html

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
Web: http://salemvoice.org Contact: ciniraj@asianetindia.com
News items and headlines: http://salemvoice.org/news.html
Gospel for Muslims: http://salemvoice.org/gospel2muslims.html
Center for Persecuted Christians:
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Chaldean Catholic Priest and three deacons shot dead in Iraq

Baghdad, SVM News, June 4, 2007: A Chaldean Catholic Priest Father Ragheed Ganni, 35, and three deacons, who were his assistants shot dead overnight of June 3 in northern Iraq.

The murder took place right after Sunday mass in front of the Holy Spirit Church in the Nur District of Mosul, where Father Ragheed Ganni was parish priest.

"They finished mass ... and the four of them got into the priest's car to drive away. After they had gone about 100m a car cut them off. Four armed men got out and shot them dead," Brigadier-General Mohammed al-Wagaa, police chief in the divided northern city of Mosul said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

The Catholic news agency AsiaNews told that hours later the bodies were still lying in the street because no one dared retrieve them. Given the situation tensions in the area remain high.

Last month, the leaders of Iraq's Christian minority called on the country's beleaguered government to protect their community from attacks by al-Qaeda-inspired Muslim extremists.

In a joint statement, Patriarch Mar Dinka IV of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldaean Catholic Patriarch Emmanuel Delly of Babylon said Baghdad's remaining Christians were facing persecution.

They blamed the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, an alliance of Islamist insurgent groups that serves as an al-Qaeda front, for much of the violence.

"Christians in a number of Iraqi regions, especially those under the control of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, have faced blackmail, kidnapping and displacement," the May 10 statement said.

Before the US-led invasion of March 2003, there were estimated to be about 800,000 Christians in Iraq, about three per cent of the otherwise largely Muslim population, living mainly in urban centres such as Baghdad.

Although there were some attacks on churches in the immediate aftermath of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Christians were not especially targeted while rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim factions went to war.

As a relatively wealthy community, however, many Christians fell prey to kidnap and ransom gangs and many - probably more than half - of them have fled the country or moved to the relative safety of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Now there are reports that Salafist groups such as al-Qaeda, fundamentalists who believe Islam can be renewed by returning to the values of the era of the Prophet Mohammed, are targeting Christians on purely sectarian grounds.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent bipartisan government agency, last month voiced concern at the deteriorating situation for freedom of religion and belief in Iraq.

Christian communities now face the threat of eradication in their historic homelands in Iraq under pervasive and severe violence and discrimination at the hands of both government and non-government actors, it warned.

Father Ragheed himself had been targeted several times in previous attacks. The Church of the Holy Spirit has also been repeatedly attacked and bombed in the last few years, the last time occurred but a few months ago.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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Center for Persecuted Christians in India and third world:
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Malaysian High Court Denied Woman's Conversion to Christianity

Kulalumbur (Malaysia), SVM News, June 1, 2007: The highest federal court of Malaysia in earlier this week refused to recognize the conversion of a Muslim-born woman to Christianity. The panel ruled 2-1 that the decision was beyond the secular court's discretion.

Lina Joy, 43, converted from Islam to Roman Catholic Church in 1998. Her troubles began shortly thereafter when she tried to change her religious affiliation on her national identification card. Because Islam requires adherents to marry within the faith, Joy would not be allowed to wed her Catholic fiancée if she was registered as a Muslim.

Government officials denied the request, forcing her to turn to the courts. The Boston Globe reports that the six-year battle for her most basic right, the right to believe, came to a close on Wednesday. Writing for the majority, Federal Court Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim admonished that Lina Joy can't at whim and fancy convert from one religion to another….... She must follow rules.

Justice Richard Malanjum, the panel's lone non-Muslim, protested that Joy's "fundamental constitutional right of freedom of religion" had been denied. Malaysia's constitution is conflicted on church-state relations because it simultaneously establishes Islam as the official religion and defends free exercise of other religions.

Her options have to be faced before the Islamic Sharia court or flee the country, Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service learnt from the majority. She could face fines, imprisonment or execution if she goes before the Islamic tribunal.

The decision shocks the conscience because Malaysia is considered one of the world's most modern and forward thinking majority-Muslim democracies. Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs, representing about 40 percent of the country's population, have lived peacefully with Muslims for decades.

Lina's case marks a disturbing trend in church-state relations around the world, and reminds us that democracies are not immune to theocratic control. Christian persecution also could be increased.

The American constitutional principle of church-state separation protects us from egregious violations of conscience such as that suffered by Ms. Lina Joy. But we must remain ever alert to the forces of religious extremism within our own borders that pose a threat to that most precious freedom.

SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
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