Joseph Zen, Bishop of Hong Kong speaks to the press in Hong Kong, July 2007. Religious freedom conditions have worsened in insurgency-wracked Iraq as well as Egypt, while communist China has embarked on a crackdown on foreign missionaries ahead of the Olympics, the US government warned in a report Friday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Religious freedom conditions have worsened in insurgency-wracked Iraq as well as Egypt, while communist China has embarked on a crackdown on foreign missionaries ahead of the Olympics, the US government warned in a report Friday.

The State Department's annual report on religious freedoms around the world also noted "continued deterioration of the extremely poor status of respect for religious freedom" in Iran and highlighted "serious problems" in Pakistan.

Amid intra-sectarian Muslim violence, religious worship conditions "deteriorated" over the past year in Iraq with the ongoing insurgency "significantly" harming the ability of people to practice their faith, it said.

"Many individuals from various religious groups were targeted because of their religious identity or their secular leanings," it said of the situation in Iraq where US troops are facing an uphill battle to restore order.

In Egypt, a key US ally, respect for religious freedom has "declined," the report said, citing particularly a court ruling this year that reinstated a policy not to provide a legal means for converts from Islam to Christianity to amend their civil records.

The report also highlighted religious repression in China, which reportedly expelled more than 100 foreign missionaries in the spring of 2007 in what some groups alleged was a "government-initiated" campaign to tighten control on Christian house churches ahead of the Olympics next year.

There were also "credible reports of deaths due to torture and abuse" involving practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual sect who "continued to face arrest, detention and imprisonment."

In Iran, locked in confrontation with the United States over its suspected nuclear arms program and alleged backing for insurgents in Iraq, government actions "created a threatening atmosphere" for non-Shiite religious groups, evangelical Christians and members of the Jewish community, the report said.

The "Report on International Religious Freedom," transmitted to Congress Friday, is a precursor to the announcement each year of a blacklist of countries "of particular concern" that are subject to US sanctions for religious repression.

Iran headed last year's list alongside China, Eritrea, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

The blacklist will be updated based on the findings of Friday's report, which covered religious freedoms in about 200 countries and territories, officials said.

In Pakistan, the report said "serious problems remained" despite some steps by the government to improve the treatment of religious minorities.

It cited "discriminatory" legislation and Islamabad's "failure" to take action against societal forces hostile to minority faiths.

Saudi Arabia's religious freedom, the report said, remained "severely restricted."

But it pointed out that "there were positive developments which could lead to important improvements in the future."

The Saudi government, the report said, was reviewing educational materials to remove or revise disparaging references to minority religious traditions, and would weed out religious teachers who espouse extremist views.

In Eritrea, religious freedom "deteriorated further," the report said, noting that many hundreds of religious detainees continue to be held without due process.

Afghanistan, despite reform efforts, was criticized for condemnations of conversions from Islam and censorship that stifled minority religions.