Across Asia: Malaysia

Govt pledges tolerance

Malaysia strongly condemned attacks on nine Christian churches and sought to assure foreign governments yesterday of its commitment to religious freedom for minorities.

The unprecedented attacks, which started Friday, were apparently triggered by a Dec. 31 High Court decision that overturned a government ban on Roman Catholics' using "Allah" to refer to their God in the Malay-language edition of their main newspaper, the Herald.

The Home Ministry held a one-hour briefing for about 70 foreign diplomats to assure them that the situation was under control. The ministry pledged to "protect the sanctity" of the diversity of the country's religions and said police would step up patrols at churches and mosques around the country.

The ministry said the attacks were perpetrated by extremists who wanted to weaken the country's commitment to racial harmony.

(China Daily 01/12/2010 page11)