Islamic fundamentalism has replaced communism as greatest threat to Christians - report

It used to be the case that Christians suffered greatest in communist countries, but today Islamic fundamentalism has replaced communism as the number one cause of persecution against Christians, says International Christian Concern.

The persecution watchdog released its ‘Hall of Shame’ list of the world’s worst countries for persecution in 2010 this week. New entries include Iraq and Egypt, both of which have seen a substantial increase in anti-Christian violence.

In Iraq, Christians have been murdered almost weekly since October, when Islamic militants killed more than 50 worshippers in a Baghdad church in October and Al-Qaeda announced the following day that Christians were legitimate targets for the Mujahedin.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, the attack on the Baghdad church and the random killing of Christians in the following weeks has triggered a “slow but steady exodus” of thousands of Christians out of the city.

ICC warned that Egypt, more than any country outside of Iraq, had suffered the most from the Al-Qaeda threat.

To read the full article, click here.