Iraqi Christians' hopes of peace being restored in the northern city of Mosul have been dashed by the murder of two Christian sisters and their mother at their family home. The sisters, Lamia and Walàa Sobhy Salloha, were killed during the attack; their mother, Selma Giargis, later died from her injuries – she had been stabbed.

Reuters news agency reports that gunmen shot one of the women outside her home in the al-Qahira district, before storming the house, killing her sister and wounding their mother. Her husband and son managed to escape.

The assailants planted a bomb in the entrance to the house before leaving; the device exploded when police arrived at the scene, injuring several officers.

Selma Giargis had not been expected to die from her injuries, but her condition is said to have worsened because of a shortage of basic medicine in the city.

Thousands of Christians fled Mosul after a spate of killings and attacks on their community in September and October. Militants killed 16 in October alone. Some were starting to return home as security seemed to be improving, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. But their hopes have been dealt a fresh blow by this most recent attack.

Meanwhile, Christians across Iraq are angry about a new electoral law which gives them only three seats out of a total of 440 available on provincial councils.
 

The legislation, signed by President Jalal Talabani earlier this month, fell a long way short of earlier promises: Shlemon Warduni, auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, said the government had pledged to reinstate earlier legislation which guaranteed 13 seats for Christians. Christians make up an estimated three per cent of Iraq's population.

The government has since said that it will use the new legislation ‘only to renew provincial councils' in January's elections and that thereafter it will conduct a census to review quotas. But the bishop is still unhappy. ‘It is meaningless to deny representation today whilst pledging equality for later,' he told AsiaNews.

(Sources: AsiaNews, Associated Press, Reuters, Spero News, The Voice of the Martyrs USA)

Ask God to protect Christians and other minorities in Mosul – and across Iraq.

Pray that the UN and international community would put more pressure on the Iraqi government to protect minority groups, defending their religious and voting rights.

Hindu nationalists from the BJP (Bharatiya Janata party) are considering introducing national legislation banning ‘forced religious conversion' if they win the forthcoming general election. At the same time militants in Orissa are calling for a state ban on Christian witnessing.

So far seven Indian states have passed anti-conversion legislation. The vague wording of these laws, which invites widespread abuse, is putting increased pressure not only on Christian groups involved in charity work but also on churches conducting traditional worship activities.

And as Hindu politicians turn up the pressure on Christians with talk of a national anti-conversion law, Hindu militants are said to be offering rewards for killing Christians in Orissa.

The All India Christian Council, a Release partner, says mobs are being offered money, liquor or food for attacking Christian property and murdering individuals. The more important the target, the greater the reward. Weapons and kerosene are being distributed.

Orissa bishops have written to the state's chief minister warning of what they describe as a Hindu extremist ‘master-plan' to wipe out Christianity in the state. Anti-Christian violence began in Orissa in August after the murder of a Hindu extremist leader – despite the fact that Maoists admitted responsibility for his death. Violence has since spread to 14 states.
 

In all but one of eight attacks on Christians reported by Compass Direct between mid-October and mid-November, extremists accused Christians of forced conversion. On November 15, Hindu militants stripped Pastor Fernandes and beat him unconscious at the Church of God in Mumbai, Maharashtra – after the conversion and baptism of five Hindus.

Militants warn that unless the government bans Christian witnessing and gives in to other demands they will stage a state-wide strike on December 25, which some observers say is aimed at preventing Christians returning to their villages to celebrate Christmas.
 

(Sources: All India Christian Council, Assist News, Christian Post, Compass Direct, FT online, The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, International Christian Concern)

Pray for an end to the campaign of anti-Christian violence across India.

Ask God to comfort and heal all those affected, including Pastor Fernandes. And pray that the church in India will be strengthened through this ordeal.

A Christian doctor on trial for ‘blasphemy' is now in hiding after being released from custody. Dr Robin Sardar has been describing how the prayers of others and the Bible sustained him in jail.

Dr Sardar walked free from Punjab's Gujranwala Central Jail on November 4 after the man who had accused him of insulting Islam's prophet Mohammed changed his story and backed down in court. He said the charges were based on a ‘misunderstanding'.
 

Dr Sardar was jailed in May after becoming embroiled in a row with a street seller in Hafizabad. Accusations of blasphemy followed the doctor's decision to refuse the man permission to set up shop outside his clinic.

‘I am grateful to all who prayed for me and helped me during the trial,' Dr Sardar told International Christian Concern. ‘The Bible was my sole strength. Jesus says: “Do not be afraid when people persecute you for my name.” Such verses from the Bible gave me courage.'
 

He added: ‘Jesus has saved me. I thank God I am still alive, proved not guilty and in good health – but unfortunately I have to live in hiding.'

Although legally a free man, Dr Sardar cannot return home because of extremists' threats. A mob chanting death threats surrounded the Sardar family home at the time of his arrest.

The same scene was played out at the home of Gulsher Masih in Tehsil Chak Jhumra near Faisalabad. His home was attacked by an angry mob accusing his daughter Sandal of ripping pages out of the Koran, allegedly on her father's instructions.
 

Hundreds of people gathered outside their home, which they doused in kerosene. Only the arrival of the police prevented them from setting the house alight. Gulsher and Sandal were later detained and charged with blasphemy. The rest of their family went into hiding.
 

(Sources: International Christian Concern, Compass Direct, The Voice of the Martyrs Canada)

Thank God that Dr Robin Sardar is free. Pray for Gulsher and Sandal in custody.

Pray that the Pakistani authorities would do more to protect Christians who are acquitted of blasphemy charges but who then live in fear of extremists' reprisals.

Uyghur house church leader Alimjan Yimit is still languishing in jail in Xinjiang province awaiting a new court date – ten months after his arrest.

A court returned Alimjan's case to state prosecutors in May, citing insufficient evidence. China Aid reports that prosecutors presented the case again in October. Court officials have refused to make public details of the case – but Compass Direct news agency reports that further legal action is expected imminently. Alimjan's dark hair is said to have started to go grey since he was taken into custody on January 12.

Charges against Alimjan include ‘inciting secessionist sentiment to split the country' and ‘collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organisations'. Alimjan's wife Gulnur insists that her husband, an agricultural worker and church leader, had no access to such information. Friends too say that Alimjan is being persecuted for his faith.

Meanwhile, in Henan, Pastor Zhu Baoguo has been sentenced to one year in a labour camp for leading an ‘evil cult'. His family have not yet been told where he is being held.

(Sources: China Aid, Compass Direct)

Pray for the swift release of Alimjan Yimit. Ask God to comfort his wife Gulnur.

Pray for Pastor Zhu Baoguo – who is said to have heart disease – and his family.

Release's ground-breaking online news bulletin World Update on the Persecuted Church has scooped two further awards. The regular bulletin has won Christian Broadcasting Council awards for best Christian speech programmes and webcasts.
 

World Update brings viewers face-to-face with the overcoming church with stories, video and pictures. It's an indispensable resource for church services or prayer and home groups – and is now going out on three TV channels: Genesis and Revelation on Sky, and the Omega Channel in South Africa and the USA. It's also available on Release's website: www.releaseinternational.org/webcast

In Release International's regular news and prayer service on the persecuted Church we are focusing initially on seven principal nations where Christians have faced intense persecution. These are China, North Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Sudan – though we may report on others. Our aims are to raise awareness of the persecuted Church and encourage prayer.

We welcome your feedback on this service.

For further information please contact Release International on 01689 823491 or by email at info@releaseinternational.org

For more information on Release International please go to: www.releaseinternational.org