http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/01/20101161354805338.html
Saturday, January 16, 2010
16:31 Mecca time, 13:31 GMT
Another church in Malaysia attacked
A spate of attacks has followed a court ruling in favour of a
Catholic newspaper's use of "Allah" [AFP]
A church in Malaysia has been vandalised in the latest attack triggered
by the simmering row over the use of the word "Allah".
Windows of the two-storey church in southern Negeri Sembilan state, on
the Malay peninsula, were found to have been smashed late on Friday, David
Raju, the spokesman for the Grace Global Prayer Church, said on Saturday.
"I think this is part of an attack on churches in the country," Raju told
the AFP news agency.
"Somebody used a thick iron rod to smash the thick glass," he said.
Police were investigating the incident.
The attack is the eleventh against a church since the High Court ruled in
favour of allowing the Catholic Church's Herald newspaper to use "Allah" in its
Malay-language section as a translation for "God".
Mosque incident
In another incident, on the island of Borneo, police confirmed reports
that they had found broken glass of what was reported to have been a rum bottle
outside a mosque in Kota Samarahan, in Sarawak state.
"Broken glass was found outside a mosque. We are investigating. I do not
want to say anything more," Ismail Omar, the deputy inspector of police, told
AFP.
The Malaysian government has strongly criticised the attacks on churches,
but has been accused of stoking Malay nationalism to protect its voter base
after the opposition made unprecedented gains in 2008 elections.
In Geneva, the World Council of Churches said it was disturbed by the
attacks and called on the Malaysian government to take immediate action.
About nine per cent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Christian,
including 850,000 Catholics, most of whom come from indigenous groups in the
Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.
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