ASMARA, Eritrea — Christians in Eritrea confirmed Aug. 22 that a pastor in Asmara who disappeared 11 days before remains missing. Pastor Leule Gebreab of Asmara’s Apostolic Church failed to return home to his family Aug. 12. “His wife is greatly distressed about his disappearance,” a local source told Compass Direct news service. Gebreab, 35, is married with two children.
In a separate development, Eritrean authorities issued an ultimatum to Catholic church leaders Aug. 16, ordering that all the church’s schools, clinics, orphanages and women’s vocational training centers be turned over to the government’s Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor.
More than 2,000 Eritrean Christians remain locked up and subjected to severe torture for their religious beliefs. The pastor of Kale Hiwot Church and 20 members of his congregation arrested in the town of Dekemhare in late May and early June have yet to be released from custody. But about 80 others who were arrested April 29 during Sunday services at Mehrete Yesus Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Asmara were reported released during the fourth week of May. (TAB)
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