Sudan: Christian Bookstores Raided, Church Buildings Demolished, Christians Arrested, Beaten …

Morning Star News – “Having deported scores of foreign Christians and demolished several church buildings in the past few months, Sudan continued ridding the country of Christianity this week by raiding Christian bookshops in Khartoum and arresting Christians, sources said.

Men who described themselves as agents of Khartoum State Security on Monday (Feb. 18) confiscated books, films and archives from the Evangelical Literature Centre, part of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) denominational headquarters, church leaders said.

‘They took everything – not a single sheet of paper was left on the shelves,’ said one church leader. ‘They took the cinema, old movies and tapes and archives. They filled a big truck with our stuff from the ELC.’

When SPEC leaders asked the security agents why they were taking the items away, they replied that they had ‘orders from above’ to confiscate all Christian books, the church leaders said. The clergymen said they understood this to mean the government intends to make Sudan a solely Islamic country.

In the course of the raid, security personnel beat a church leader for taking photos, sources said. The following day (Feb. 19), national security agents arrested the church leader, whose name is withheld, and his whereabouts remained unknown at press time, a pastor told Morning Star News.

Prior to the raid, authorities of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Khartoum state sent a letter to SPEC leaders informing them of their plan to search the premises for Christian literature, according to the church leaders. They described the move as unlawful and unacceptable.

Security agents later confiscated two containers full of Christian books and Bibles at the SPEC headquarters adjoining the Evangelical Literature Centre, sources said.

Church leaders hope to meet with an official from the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment about the raid. SPEC officials have decided to hold regular prayer meetings at the depleted Evangelical Literature Center.

‘We continue to pray for God to strengthen our faith in these difficult times,’ a church leader told Morning Star News by phone.” Read more.

Flashback: Sudan Imam: ‘We Will Never Forgive Christians For Not Being Muslims’, Suggests That Christianity Must Be Eliminated Throughout The North – “… Muslims vie to take school land and anti-Christian messages emanate from a nearby mosque loudspeaker on most Fridays. Muslim leaders have been asserting through the mosque loudspeaker that Christian institutions should not be permitted in Sudan, as the country should be a ‘purely Islamic state’ since the secession of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, he said. ‘We are expecting the level of persecution to rise in Sudan in the coming days,’ a pastor who works at the Bible school told Morning Star News by phone, adding that hostilities against churches and Christians were intensifying.” Read more.

Flashback: North Sudan: President Al-Bashir Moves Forward with Rewriting the Country’s Constitution to Implement Sharia Law – “Sudanese leader Omer Hassan Al-Bashir is moving forward with rewriting the country’s constitution to implement Shariah law, according to reports from organizations with links inside the Muslim-dominated nation… a Shariah-compliant constitution will mean more suffering for Sudan’s remaining Christians. ‘This new law (Shariah compliant constitution) is going to affect a significant number of Christians who live in places like Khartoum (the capital city). There are still a significant number of Christians in Sudan,’ Racho said.” Read more.

‘A Diplomatic Catastrophe’: Hamas Terror Group, Muslim Clerics Warn Barack Obama Against Visiting Temple Mount During Israel Visit

Hamas Leader Khaled Mashal

By Elhanan Miller, The Times of Israel – “Responding to unconfirmed rumors that US President Barack Obama intends to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during his trip to Israel next month, the Hamas terror group and local clerics warned the American leader against the idea on Tuesday, calling it ‘a diplomatic catastrophe.’

A statement issued by Hamas called Obama’s potential visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located at the southern perimeter of the Mount, ‘an imminent danger which the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem have never faced.’

Hamas stated that a visit by the American president to the contested site under the auspices of ‘the Zionist occupation’ would be more dangerous than the relocation of any country’s embassy to Jerusalem, considering the international preeminence of the United States.

The Temple Mount, revered by Jews as the site of the first and second temples and by Muslims as the point from which Muhammad ascended to heaven, is administered by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, a trust that has governed the site since the 12th century.

Ekrima Sabri, who used to administer the Temple Mount as mufti of Jerusalem and currently heads the High Islamic Council in Jerusalem, told The Times of Israel that Obama would be allowed to visit the site only if he abided by three conditions.

According to a protocol drafted by the Waqf in 1967, official visitors may enter the Temple Mount through any of its 11 gates excluding the Mughrabi Gate, which is connected to the Western Wall plaza by a bridge.

‘The Israeli army stole the keys to that gate from the Islamic Waqf, so entry through that gate gives the impression that Israel has sovereignty over Al-Aqsa,’ Sabri said.

‘We insist on Muslim sovereignty over the Temple Mount,’ he said.” Read more.

Rumors Of War: ‘Obama To Tell Netanyahu US Gearing Up For Iran Strike’

If Iran and its axis friends believe that “Allah’s enemies” are planning an imminent attack, will they themselves in turn plot to make war against Israel and the “Christian West” by planning an attack of their own? Secretary of State John Kerry may hope that war can be avoided if Iran makes the “right choice” but, as we should know all too well, Iran’s definition of the “right choice” in no way, shape or form correlates with anything rooted in common sense …

July 2012: Iran Tests “The Great Prophet 7” Capable of Hitting Israel

By Yifa Yaakov, The Times of Israel – “When he visits Israel next month, US President Barack Obama will tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a ‘window of opportunity’ for a military strike on Iran will open in June, according to an Israeli TV report Monday evening.

Obama will come bearing the message that if diplomatic efforts and sanctions don’t bear fruit, Israel should ‘sit tight’ and let Washington take the stage, even if that means remaining on the sidelines during a US military operation, Channel 10 reported. Netanyahu will be asked to refrain from any military action and keep a low profile, avoiding even the mention of a strike, the report said, citing unnamed officials.

In London Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry said an Iran with nuclear weapons was ‘simply unacceptable’ and warned the time limit for a diplomatic solution was running out.

‘As we have repeatedly made clear, the window for a diplomatic solution simply cannot remain open forever,’ said Kerry, on his first international tour as America’s top diplomat. ‘But it is open today. It is open now and there is still time, but there is only time if Iran makes the decision to come to the table and to negotiate in good faith.

‘We are prepared to negotiate in good faith, in mutual respect, in an effort to avoid whatever terrible consequences could follow failure, and so the choice really is in the hands of the Iranians. And we hope they will make the right choice,’ Kerry added.” Read more.

Terrorist Wanted by Interpol To Run For Iranian President In June – “One of the most feared figures of Iran’s Islamic establishment has announced his candidacy in the country’s June 14 presidential vote. Ali Fallahian, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts who served as intelligence minister under former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, has been accused of involvement in the killings of Iranian dissidents and is on Interpol’s wanted list for alleged participation in the 1995 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.” Read more.

Flashback: Iran Ayatollah: Kill All Jews Worldwide, Annihilate Israel – “The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people. The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide. Calling Israel a danger to Islam, the conservative website Alef, with ties to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the opportunity must not be lost to remove ‘this corrupting material. It is a ‘jurisprudential justification’ to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel, and in that, the Islamic government of Iran must take the helm.’” Read more.