The main driver of Christian persecution worldwide is Islamic extremism, David Curry, president of Open Doors USA, told
Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
"Nine out of the top 10 countries have a factor of Islamic extremism," Curry told "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth. Curry was referring to the organization's
new watch list of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
Watch
Newsmax TV on
DIRECTV Ch. 349,
DISH Ch. 223 and
Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get
Newsmax TV on your cable system –
Click Here Now
"Sometimes that's the government," Curry added. He said that Eritrea, located on the Horn of Africa, is No. 3 on this year's list. The country operates under Sharia law.
"They use the judicial system," he told Hayworth. "They use the police force to pressure Christians, to imprison Christians."
He said that al-Shabaab is operating in Somalia, "terrorizing Christians and making life very, very difficult."
In Kenya, a woman Hayworth only identified as "Gladys" told of how her husband was "brutally murdered" recently by al-Shabaab sympathizers.
Her husband and a friend who was a pastor were on a missionary trip when they were killed.
"They chopped them up with machetes," she told Hayworth. "You couldn't recognize the bodies. There was nothing left."