Malatya murder trial defendants exploit Turkish government ‘witch-hunt’

Malatya murder trial defendants exploit Turkish government 'witch-hunt'
Suspects accused of helping to orchestrate the brutal murders of three Christians in southeast Turkey in 2007 are now blaming the crime on the Hizmet movement, an influential Islamic group accused of treason by the ruling Turkish government. Testimony from two former military officers and an Islamic university researcher dominated . . . Read More

Understand concept of ‘infidel’ to understand risks of Islamic radicalization

Understand concept of ‘infidel’ to understand risks of Islamic radicalization
Iraqi Christian children driven out of their homes by IS. Photo taken at a refugee camp in Erbil on September 16.World Watch Monitor   In recent history, genocides have often been accompanied by the preparatory dehumanization of victims. In 1994, in Rwanda, for example, the Hutu interhamwe labelled the Tutsis . . . Read More

Tanzanian teacher murdered in church, pastor and wife on Zanzibar attacked by extremists

Tanzanian teacher murdered in church, pastor and wife on Zanzibar attacked by extremists
Pastor Crodward Edwar (centre) at a press conference about the Bukoba murderHarakati News blog   Unknown attackers killed a Christian man by machete and injured another in Bukoba in northwest Tanzania on Thursday, Oct. 9, according to sources. This followed another recent incident on Zanzibar island in which a pastor . . . Read More

Priest kidnapped, dozens killed amidst renewed violence in C. African Rep

Priest kidnapped, dozens killed amidst renewed violence in C. African Rep
Fr Mateusz Dziedzic, has been living in CAR since 2009, where he runs nursery schools.Courtesy of Catholic Church in CAR   A Polish priest has been abducted by armed men in the Central African Republic, amidst rising tension which has claimed dozens of lives in recent days. Father Mateusz Dziedzic . . . Read More

Claim of truce raises hope that kidnapped Nigerian girls will be released

Claim of truce raises hope that kidnapped Nigerian girls will be released
The deserted streets of Chibok in August.World Watch Monitor   Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls will be released as part of a truce between militant Islamist group Boko Haram and government forces, the Nigerian army said Friday. The Nigerian chief of defence, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, made the announcement. Boko Haram . . . Read More

Pakistan court upholds death penalty for Asia Bibi despite serious legal loophole in trial

Pakistan court upholds death penalty for Asia Bibi despite serious legal loophole in trial
The first Christian woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws had her appeal rejected by the High Court in Lahore on Thursday. Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, received the death penalty in 2010 after she allegedly made derogatory comments about the Prophet Mohammed during an . . . Read More

Iran appears to fight Islamic State, but are their ultimate goals too similar for comfort?

Iran appears to fight Islamic State, but are their ultimate goals too similar for comfort?
ISISKarl-Ludwig Poggemann / Flickr / Creative Commons   It says something about the depths of worldwide revulsion to the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” that Western powers such as the US and the UK have been sitting at the same table with Iran to discuss how to defeat the deadly Islamist movement . . . Read More