report by Vatican-approved agency Aid to the Church in Need suggested 75% of religious persecution around the world is directed against Christians, affecting 100 million people.

The church highlighted the assassination of Pakistani Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti at the start of March.

Mr Bhatti was the only Christian member of the cabinet in Pakistan.

Cardinal O'Brien said: "I urge William Hague to obtain guarantees from foreign governments before they are given aid.

"To increase aid to the Pakistan government when religious freedom is not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down is tantamount to an anti-Christian foreign policy.

"Pressure should now be put on the government of Pakistan - and the governments of the Arab world as well - to ensure that religious freedom is upheld, the provision of aid must require a commitment to human rights."

He said the report's estimate of persecution against Christians was "intolerable and unacceptable".
he report also highlights the Christian population of Iraq, which it says has gone from an estimated 1.4 million to as low as 150,000 over the past 25 years.


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