bind error: none:0: open: /etc/named.conf: permission denied

[Todd And Margo Chester]

Hi Guys,

  sl6, 64 bit
  bind
  bind-chroot
I am trying  to migrate my DNS (bind, named) over from Cent OS 5.6
to SL 6.  (Yes, I am a refugee who liked the SL community and decided
to stay.)  When I try starting /etc/rc.d/init.d/named, I get

      # service named start
      Starting named:
      Error in named configuration:
      none:0: open: /etc/named.conf: permission denied

There is no permission problem.  (Setting named.conf to 2777
proved that.)

I have isolated the problem down to this line of code in
../init.d/named:

       if [ -x /usr/sbin/named-checkconf ] && \
          [ -x /usr/sbin/named-checkzone ] &&  \
          /usr/sbin/named-checkconf $ckcf_options ${named_conf} 
>/dev/null 2>&1; then

Placing the following proofing statements in ..init.d/named:

       echo ""
       echo "you are here"
       echo "`whoami`"
       if [ -x /usr/sbin/named-checkconf ]; then echo "yes"; else echo 
"no"; fi
       if [ -x /usr/sbin/named-checkzone ]; then echo "yes"; else echo 
"no"; fi
       /usr/sbin/named-checkconf $ckcf_options ${named_conf}; echo $?

gives:

       you are here
       root
       yes
       yes
       + /usr/sbin/named-checkconf -z -t /var/named/chroot /etc/named.conf
       none:0: open: /etc/named.conf: permission denied
       1

So the problem is specifically:

       /usr/sbin/named-checkconf -z -t /var/named/chroot /etc/named.conf

Now here is the rub.  If I run the above command as the same user (root)
from the command line, it works!

        # /usr/sbin/named-checkconf -z -t /var/named/chroot 
/etc/named.conf; echo  $?
        zone foo.local/IN: loaded serial 100
        zone 255.168.192.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 100
        zone 0.0.127.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 1997022700
        0

[Editorial comment]  AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! [/editorial comment]

Help!

Many thanks,
-T