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Posted on 10/16/2001 8:14:52 PM PDT by tomball

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The situation of Christians has deteriorated in many Islamic countries since the terrorist attacks on Washington and the subsequent U.S.-British raids on Afghanistan, according to Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom in Washington.

A prominent U.S. imam Monday assailed as un-Islamic the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries ranging from Indonesia to Nigeria.

"The Koran enjoins Muslims to treat everybody with dignity and compassion," said Muzzamil Siddiqi, director of the Islamic society of Orange County, Cal., when asked about the murder threats, violence, forced conversions, incarceration and discrimination some Christians are being subjected to.

Diane Knippers, president of the Washington-based Institute on Religion and democracy, praised Siddiqi's remarks as a wonderful statement. She said, "We need more of this. We need Muslim groups in the U.S. to raise their voices on behalf of Christians in predominantly Muslim areas."

Knippers pointed out that "U.S. churches were quick to speak up on behalf of Moslems in our society. They rightly encouraged all America to treat them with respect. At the same time the churches should speak up when Christians in Muslim areas are in jeopardy."

The National Council of Churches' news service also condemned persecution Monday.

"We consider persecution of any religious group unacceptable. We are actively engaged in protecting Christians and other religious minorities in countries around the world in partnership with indigenous religious groups. To give specific details could jeopardize both their security and our efforts on their behalf," the service said in a statement.

In a similar vein, Jerry Powers of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that his church had been consistently active on behalf of persecuted Christians abroad.

Marshall, an internationally recognized authority on religious rights, said Christians were in peril in a long belt of Muslim nations stretching from the eastern parts of Indonesia all the way to West Africa.

In some cases this was due to government policies; in others religious fanatics are menacing Christians, embarrassing national governments, he added.

In an interview with United Press International, Marshall drew a grim picture, country by country:

Indonesia: In the eastern islands of this largest Muslim nation in the world, white-uniformed militiamen of Laskar Jihad are forcibly converting Christians to Islam. Marshall said this caused considerable embarrassment to the government, which did not condone such actions.

This campaign has so far cost the lives of 5,000 to 6,000 people, the British-born scholar related. "There are links between Laskar Jihad and top terrorist Osama bin Laden," he said.

Bangladesh: Small radical groups supporting Osama bin Laden have bombed or burned down churches.

Pakistan: Christians depend on the protection of the government as several Muslim leaders have issued fatwas (religious decrees) to kill two Pakistani Christians for every Afghan Muslim who dies in the Anglo-American air raids.

There have also been attacks on Christians along the Afghan border, Marshall told UPI.

Egypt: The government discriminates against Christianity by financing the construction of mosques, while denying permits for the reconstruction of Christian sanctuaries, according to Marshall.

Saudi-Arabia: In the last two months, 15 Christian expatriates have been jailed for worshiping in private homes, and three have been tortured, according to the Washington-based religious rights organization, International Christian Concern.

An information officer at the Saudi embassy in Washington, who declined to give his name, denied this Tuesday: "As far as we know this is not true. We are not aware of any (Christians) in jail at this time," he said.

No religion other than Islam is allowed in the kingdom and there is no church. When asked about this, Abdullah M. Khouj, rector of the Islamic Center in Washington, replied, "This is a matter to be negotiated between governments."

Sudan: Some 2 million people -- chiefly Christians -- have been killed in a civil war fought by the radical Islamic government in the north of the country against non-Arab population in the South, according to several sources including Marshall and Diane Knippers' Institute on Religion and Democracy.

For several years now, international religious rights organizations have reported that Christians are being raped, tortured to death, and crucified.

Somalia: Anybody found out to be a Christian will quickly be beheaded by Muslim vigilantes, Marshall said.

Nigeria: In 12 states, versions of Shari'a law, the Islamic penal code, have been imposed -- in violation of the constitution of that African federal republic.

After the imposition of Islamic law, riots ensued killing 5,000 in the city of Kaduna alone, said Marshall. Other reports put the death toll at around 1,000.

In other Muslim countries, such as Algeria, Islamic radicals opposed to the government are killing other Muslims, primarily women and children although they have also murdered priests, nuns and even a bishop, Marshall explained.

Others, such as the once tolerant, democratic African nation of Mauritania are now taking tougher measures against Christians, Marshall continued. "If you arrive with a Bible, they'll take it off you. And it's illegal to preach Christianity to the locals."

Becoming a Christian in many Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran or Afghanistan can mean that one loses one's job, one's ability to be educated, one's family, and even one's life, Wendy Norvell of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, told UPI.

Added Robert Reccord, President of the SBC's North American Mission board, "We look forward to the day when Christians living in Islamic countries will have the same religious freedoms that Muslims currently enjoy in the United States and Canada.”

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