The pro-Islamic government in northern Nigeria has place a reward of $2000 on the head of every Catholic priest killed in Kaduna city. Already, one Catholic priest has indeed been killed this year
- Fr. Clement Ozi Bello in May 2000. (World Evangelical Fellowship).

Maryoma Komi, head of the Women’s Union in Heiban county, Sudan, was killed by Muslim extremists in the Army of the Government of Sudan in early 1999. She was known as an outspoken critic of the current regime. Soldiers from the Heiban garrison burst into her home and abducted her. In response to an inquiry by the United Nations Human Rights Center concerning the cases of over 200 people who had been abducted in the Nuba Mountains the Sudanese government replied that: ‘in most cases they were voluntary disappearances.’ (Frontline Fellowship).

One Coptic Christian was killed and three others were injured in late July during an attack by their Muslim neighbors in Sool, a village 30 miles south of Cairo. Fakhri Ayyad Musaad, a 38-year-old Coptic farmer, died in a gun blast as he and three of his employees were unloading eggs at his chicken farm. According to Reuters news service, the clash broke out over claims by Muslim farmers that “unlicensed construction work” by a Copt in a nearby field was a church. The Egyptian Interior Ministry, however, claimed that Musaad was the victim of a “land dispute.” Egypt’s ancient, cumbersome law requiring Christians to obtain special permission to build or even do minor repairs on their churches regularly ignites confrontations between the Muslim majority and the minority Coptic community. The Copts comprise at least 10 percent of Egypt’s population. (Compass Direct)

An evangelical who worked as a security guard in Lima’s Banco de la Nacion was among six died when protesters set the bank on fire during anti-Fujimori demonstrations July 28. Pedro Valverde Baltazar, a member of a Pentecostal denomination, lived in the impoverished northern section of Lima with his wife and two children. It is not known who started the blaze during protests called by former presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo. Toledo had campaigned against Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori in April’s election but withdrew his candidacy when he concluded that the vote would not be fair. Alfonso Wieland, director Peace and Hope Association, said, “Strangely, the police left the area just prior to the fire.” Wieland, along with some 150 other evangelical leaders, took part in the protest. The purpose of the protest was to peacefully demonstrate against Fujimori’s unprecedented and unconstitutional third term in office. Valverde’s family said that they wanted to see the arsonists brought to justice but did not want his death to be politicized. (Compass Direct).