Afghans kick out 1,200 Christians August 4, 2006
BY CHRIS HAWKE KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan ordered hundreds of South Korean Christians to leave the country, accusing them Thursday of seeking to undermine its Islamic culture. The group's leader, Choi Han-woo, denied the 1,200 South Koreans, who had gathered in Afghanistan for relief work and a cultural festival, took part in any religious activities. Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai said the Koreans entered the country with tourist visas, but their activities showed they had a different agenda. ''The program was against the Islamic culture and customs of Afghans,'' he said, adding that the South Koreans had been told to leave the country as soon as possible. Vice and Virtues office The accusations come amid increasing intolerance and violence against foreign troops in Afghanistan, a crackdown in the capital on drinking and prostitution linked to foreign influences, and the recent announcement of a plan to reinstate the Vice and Virtues Ministry, which enforced its harsh version of Islamic morality under the ousted Taliban government. Rumors among the people A spokesman for the group, Sung Han Kang, said the group had a Christian background but was not trying to win converts. Rather, its members began entering the country a month ago to provide computer and business training, medical and dental care and arrange sports activities in five cities, he said. But a provincial official in Herat said the Koreans had gone from house to house in groups of two or three, and ''it was rumored among the people they have plans to convert the people to Christianity." A Herat police official said he escorted the Koreans to historic sites under tight security and they performed a religious ceremony. ''One did a religious reading while another played music,'' said Maser Ahmad Paykar. When asked how he knew the ceremony was religious, he said, ''I don't know. It was in Korean. It was kind of religious.'' AP http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-afghan04.html Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
