Release International

Leaders of Khartoum's Anglican cathedral are demanding justice after police allegedly stormed the church with tear gas, whipped the congregation -- then denied the whole thing.

Canon Sylvester Thomas of All Saints Cathedral in the Sudanese capital says this is yet another example of discrimination against Christians living under Sharia law in the north. He claims that officers had burst into the cathedral during a New Year's Eve service, firing tear gas and searching for a 'man involved in a stabbing'. When the 800-strong congregation tried to flee through the main door, they were beaten with whips and sticks.

Six people were reported injured, including a teenager whose chair was set alight. Parts of the church itself -- pews, windows, chairs and the sound system -- were also damaged. When church staff reported the matter to police on January 2, local officers tried to claim that this was the work of an unknown renegade group dressed up as police. 'But they were all in uniform and using guns and [police] cars,' Canon Thomas told Compass Direct. He had to help some of the congregation escape through his office into his home.

Salva Kiir, a southerner and Vice-President of the national unity government, denounced the attack on national television. He was speaking during a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the peace deal which ended Sudan's long civil war between the Arab-Muslim north and the south, which is mainly Christian and animist.

During the ceremony, Kiir and President Omar al-Bashir blamed each other for lack of progress on the peace process and on the thorny issue of dividing oil revenues.

• Pray for justice for the congregation of All Saints Cathedral. Ask God to strengthen the faith of Christians living under Islamic law in northern Sudan.
• Continue to pray for a just and lasting peace for Sudan and her people.

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