No. 1 Persecutor Of Christians

North Korea remains No. 1 for the seventh year in a row on a list of the world's worst persecutors of Christians. The Open Doors Watch List for 2008, released Feb. 3, ranks Saudi Arabia second and Iran third, noting that both countries are controlled by Shariah or Islamic law. Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Maldives are the next three on the list, followed by Yemen, Laos, Eritrea, and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan moved up three spots in the past year, according to Open Doors, as a result of increased activity by the Taliban. Somalia and Eritrea are new among the top 10, while Bhutan and China have dropped from the top-10 ranking to numbers 11 and 12, respectively.