Middle East

(ADDS MORE DETAILS, HAMAS REACTION) BosNewsLife Middle East Service JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife) -- Israel is halting its military operations for three hours a day beginning Wednesday, January 7, to allow humanitarian aid to enter into Gaza, Israeli officials said.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service KIRKUK, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Iraqi Christians and Muslims on Tuesday, May 31, prayed for an end to violence and released doves "for peace" in the northern city of Kirkuk, where police found the mutilated body of a kidnapped Iraqi Christian, catholic news agency AsiaNews reported.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service

(ADDS DETAINED ACTIVISTS, CHANGING LEAD)

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- At least 10 reformists were detained before dawn Sunday, June 14, hours after Iranian officials said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected in a landslide victory, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported.

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- The son of executed Christian pastor Hossein Soodmand was still awaiting his trial in Iran for "promoting anti-government propaganda" Wednesday, November 12, some three weeks after being released on bail. Ramtin Soodmand, pastor of the Evangelical Church of Iran in the city of Mashhad, was freed October 22 after his family reportedly managed to raise about $22,000 bail money, ending two months of imprisonment. Soodmand was detained by Iranian security forces on August 21, originally on charges of "proselytizing," Christians with close knowledge about the procedures said. The charges were later changed to anti-government activities. His defense team has strongly denied the accusations, but concerns remain that he could still face years of imprisonment and even the death penalty. “The real reason for his arrest is the fact that he is a Muslim convert who is involved in Christian ministry,� said the well-informed Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN). The release of Soodmand came shortly after Shroder Ashur, an Assyrian Christian minister, was released after being charged with the "propagation of Christianity," said FCNN, which has close contacts with prosecuted Christians in Iran. Ashur was freed in the city of Urumieh on October 5, according to FCNN investigators. CONCERNS REMAINYet, Christians said they remain concerned over the plight over these and other Christians. Recently the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was reportedly overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.Ramtin Soodmand's sister told British media she was "terribly anxious" about him. "Even though my brother is not an apostate, because he has never been a Muslim – my father raised us all as Christians – I don't think he is Rashin Soodmansafe," said 29-year-old Rashin Soodman, who now lives in London. "They assume that if you are Iranian, you must be Muslim," she told The Telegraph newspaper. Her brother's situation has ominous echoes of her father's fate. Rashin was 14 when her father, who was pastor of the Assemblies of God Church of Mashhad, was arrested. "He was held in prison for one month," she said. "Then the religious police released him without explanation and without apology. We were overjoyed. We thought his ordeal was over."CHRISTIAN FAITHBut six months later, the police came back and took Hossein Soodmand away again, she said. This time, they offered her father a choice: he could denounce his Christian faith, and the church in which he was a pastor – or he would be killed. "Of course, my father refused to give up his faith," Rashid recalled. "He could not renounce his God. His belief in Christ was his life – it was his deepest conviction." Two weeks later, he was taken by guards to the prison gallows and hanged.His death has been linked to attempts by Iran's rulers to use the 1979 revolution to turn Iran into an Islamic state, and to abolish the secular laws of the Shah. In the 18 years since Hossein Soodmand's execution, there have been no reports of judicially sanctioned killings of apostates in Iran, although there have been many reports of disappearances and even murders, Christian groups said.Rashin Soodmand eventually managed to leave Iran and, living in London, is now married to a fellow Christian from Iran who successfully applied for asylum in Germany. But she fears for her brother's future. "We just don't know what will happen to him. We only know that if they want to kill him, they will," she said. END (With reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos).

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN/LONDON (BosNewsLife)-- Advocacy group Amnesty International (AI) says four Iranians have been sentenced in Iran to a combined total of 45 years in prison “solely for practicing their Christian faith” and has launched an Urgent Action for their release.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN/VIENNA (BosNewsLife)-- Iran on Saturday, January 16, released Iranian-born American pastor Saeed Abedini along with Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and two other Americans who had been held in Iranian prisons

By Joseph DeCaro, BosNewsLife International Correspondent CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)– An Egyptian Military Court ordered that an imprisoned Christian activist be admitted to a mental health hospital to determine whether he's responsible for his actions, BosNewsLife learned Thursday, October 27

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Egyptian police was under pressure Wednesday, April 9, to speed up an investigation into the killing of a young Christian woman by angry Islamists, friends said.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service SANA'A, YEMEN (BosNewsLife)-- Christian expatriates in Yemen, including missionaries, were reviewing their security arrangements Tuesday, June 16, following confirmation of the murders of at least three kidnapped foreigners by suspected Islamic militants, a Christian group with close knowledge about the situation said.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)--Iranian-born American pastor Saeed Abedini is recovering of injuries after he was "viciously beaten" in prison where he is serving an eight year sentenced on charges linked to evangelism and planting churches in Iran, several sources said.