Catholic World News News Feature

Saudi convert to Christianity imprisoned December 17, 2004

A Saudi citizen whos converted to Christianity has been arrested and jailed, AsiaNews reports. 

Emad Alaabadi was taken into custody last November 29, at Hofuf, a town in eastern Saudi Arabia, but the news was reported only a few days ago by the International Christian Concern (ICC), a Washington-based human rights group.  AsiaNews local sources have confirmed the report, and also say that he “is not the only Saudi Christian in jail at the moment: there are also others.”

On December 4, Amad managed to contact his mother by telephone. The mother reported that he sounded very weak: ICC said that the Muttawa agents probably tortured him, seeking to reconvert him to Islam.

Fundamentalist Wahhabi Islam is the only expression of religion allowed in Saudi Arabia. 

[For a detailed account see the AsiaNews web site.]