>Pastor asked to acknowledge Muhammed as "God's messenger" in exchange for release

>Lawyers summoned to discuss deal

>Nadarkhani still facing execution for abandoning Islam

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has rejected an offer to be released from prison if he publicly acknowledges Islam's prophet Mohammed as "a messenger sent by God" well-informed Christians and rights activists said Friday, January 13.

 

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service

JERURSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- A leader of Israel's Christian minority has been stabbed to death by a man dressed as Santa Claus, prompting the arrest of six locals in connection with the murder, church and police officials said Saturday, January 7.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reports from Africa and Asia

JAKARTA/ABUJA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- North Korea leads a list of nations where "Christians face the most severe persecution", but "Muslim-majority" countries represent nine of the top 10 amid spreading Islamic extremism around the world, a major Christian watchdog said in comments obtained by BosNewsLife Thursday, January 5.

 

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian woman who was detained as part of Iran's crackdown on devoted Christian converts has been released after more than nine months imprisonment, but concerns remain over other jailed believers, BosNewsLife learned Saturday, December 31.

 

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with BosNewsLife Middle East Service

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A senior evangelical pastor and his wife are spending Christmas behind bars in southern Iran after security forces raided their Assemblies of God-affiliated church, detaining everyone in the building, including children attending Sunday School, a friend of the couple told BosNewsLife.

 

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Iraq have canceled several church services, including traditional Christmas Eve midnight Masses, amid fears of more violence after more than a dozen bonbings in the capital Baghdad killed some 60 people this week and other violence claims at least 7 lives elsewhere, Catholic and other church officials said.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Evangelical Christians in Iran fear a massive crackdown by security forces around Christmas and say Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani may be executed earlier than authorities suggest, a senior church official told BosNewsLife Monday, December 19.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has to serve at least one more year in prison before he may be executed for refusing to abandon his faith in Christ and return to Islam, an official assisting him told BosNewsLife Thursday, December 15.

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By BosNewsLife Middle East Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Nearly a year after uprisings tumbled repressive governments in North Africa and the Middle East, there are warnings the region's minority Christians will face more persecution in 2012.