Thursday, December 17, 2009

Pew Forum: US 'allies' Egypt and Saudi Arabia very poor on religious freedom


U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt are among 10 mostly Muslim nations whose governments impose the most curbs on religion, according to a report on Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Afghanistan's government also ranked poorly, highlighting a potentially sensitive diplomatic flashpoint as President Barack Obama sends more U.S. troops to the Central Asian country to quell a growing insurgency.
The Pew report says nearly 70 percent of the world's 6.8 billion people who live in countries that have severe restrictions on religion.
The report ranked countries by two measures: government restrictions on religion and restrictions from violence or intimidation by private individuals or groups. Saudi Arabia was the only country to rank "very high" in both measures. MORE

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