Philippines: Muslim rebels agree peace deal
The Philippine government has reached a framework peace agreement with the country's largest Muslim rebel group, President Benigno Aquino says. The deal follows long negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to end a 40-year conflict that has cost more than 120,000 lives.The agreement provides for a new autonomous region in the south, on the islsnd of Mindanao where Muslims are a majority in an otherwise mainly Catholic country. The MILF is ‘very happy’ with the deal, a spokesman was quoted as saying. The agreement was reached after talks in Malaysia and is expected to be signed formally on 15 October in the Philippine capital, Manila. A copy of the framework deal says the parties commit to reaching a ‘comprehensive deal’ by the end of the year. ‘This framework agreement paves the way for a final and enduring peace in Mindanao,’ President Aquino said in a speech to announce the deal, referring to the main southern region.
Pray: that this new peace deal will succeed so that Muslims and Catholics will be able to live together in peace. (Ps.34:14)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19860907
Tanzania: Islamist extremism spreading
Islamisation is increasing at an alarming rate in Tanzania according to a bishop from the country. Bishop Bernadin Mfumbusa of Kondoa warned that religious freedom and other civil liberties were under threat from intolerant radical Muslim influences sweeping in from countries neighbouring the east African nation. Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, the bishop said: ‘We see more and more itinerant Muslim preachers from Saudi Arabia and Sudan entering this country, – and Muslims are increasingly making political demands.’ These demands include extending Islamic Sharia law and making everyone subject to it – Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Bishop Mfumbusa said: ‘In recent times there has been a constant demand to introduce Sharia into other parts of Tanzania which do not have a majority of Muslims.’ Sharia law is already in force in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago with an almost completely Muslim population, but it does not apply to other parts of Tanzania.
Pray: against the growth of radical Islam and pray that Christians will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak boldly about their faith. (Ac.4:13)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/islamist.extremism.spreading.in.tanzania/30776.htm
Egypt: Coptic children released after initial arrest for 'insulting Islam'
In the wake of the high-profile case of Rimsha Masih, a 14-year-old Pakistani Christian girl arrested for allegedly blaspheming the Qur'an, two Coptic Christian boys face similar accusations in Egypt this week. Nabil Nagy Rizk, 10, and Mina Nady Farag, 9, were arrested Wednesday for insulting Islam, but the attorney general ordered both boys to be released the next day ‘due to their young age.’ Both families agreed to return to court for questioning, but the boys
previously had been placed in a juvenile detention centre to await their hearing on Sunday. The village imam accused the children of tearing up pages of the Qur'an. Other reports say the boys also urinated on the pages, but the police chief said no one witnessed this incident. According to Ahram Online, Nabil's father Nagy Rizk says the boys are illiterate and did not know the content of the papers which they found in a bag near a pile of street trash.
Pray: for the protection of vulnerable young people from apparent false accusations. (Ex.20:16)
More: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2012/10/coptic_children.html
Egypt: President Mursi pardons 'revolutionaries'
Egypt's President, Mohammed Mursi, has pardoned all those arrested since the beginning of last year's popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. A post on the president's official Facebook page announced an amnesty for crimes and misdemeanours committed ‘in support of the revolution’. The decree could lead to the release of several thousand people. The ‘comprehensive pardon’ announced by the new president on Monday applies to anyone who was charged with or convicted of ‘crimes and misdemeanours or attempts to commit them in support of the revolution and the realisation of its goals’. The pardon applies to all those arrested from 25 January 2011, the first day of the revolution, until 30 June 2012, when Mr Mursi took office. It covers those who are awaiting trial as well as those already serving jail sentences. The only exception will be those accused of murder.
Pray: that this amnesty will help to establish justice for all. (Lev.19:15)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19877428
