Landmark ruling on Islam conversion case

A Malaysian Islamic court yesterday allowed a Muslim convert to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights.

Lawyers said the Shariah High Court's verdict in the northern state of Penang might be the first time in recent memory that a convert has been permitted to legally renounce Islam in this Muslim-majority nation.

A rising number of disputes about religious conversions has sparked anxiety among minorities - predominantly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu - because in the past courts virtually always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam.