Two Malaysia Churches Burned

Two Malaysia Churches Burned

Friday, Jan. 8, 2010 Posted: 7:41:45PM HKT


Kuala Lumpur police officers inspect the damage to the Metro Tabernacle Church which was destroyed by a fire bomb a little after midnight in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Desa Melawati, Friday, Jan. 8, 2010. (Photo: AP)

A spate of firebomb attacks which started midnight has seriously damaged a Malaysian church and mildly damaged another, leaving a third undamaged.

The attacks were carried out on the day Muslim groups planned to hold protests over a recent high court decision which allowed a Catholic newspaper to use the word ‘Allah’ in its Malay-language edition.

The first-floor office of the three-storey Assemblies of God Metro Tabernacle Church was destroyed in a fire around midnight, a spokesman said. The upper floors were not affected and there were no casualties.

A witness spotted four people on two motorcycles breaking the glass front of the church and throwing an incendiary object inside before fleeing, according to Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohamad Sabtu Osman.

He said police have found a wrench, empty gasoline can and two scorched motorcycle helmets at the church, which is located in Desa Melawati, a suburb in KL.

Hours later the Catholic Church of the Assumption in southwest KL was also attacked.

“I was awoken by men riding on motorcycles who threw a kerosene bomb into the church compound,” said parish priest Philip Muthu.

“The bomb lit a fire and damaged part of the compound but it did not burn down the church building,” he said. “I don’t know why they are doing this but this is worrying.”

A third church, also hit by a Molotov cocktail, was not damaged, a church official said.

“We are investigating the matter thoroughly and those responsible will be brought to book,” police chief Musa Hassan told reporters.

“Police will deploy patrol cars to patrol churches in the country. We will investigate the matter thoroughly.”

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak has condemned the actions at a press conference, adding that they are destructive to the country’s harmony.

“The government will take whatever steps it can to prevent such acts,” he said.

The high court ruled last week in favour of the Catholic ‘Herald’ newspaper which has been using ‘Allah’ as a translation for ‘God’ in its Malay edition, removing a three-year government ban against non-Muslim usage of the word.

The ruling was suspended on Wednesday pending an appeal after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict in the Muslim-majority country, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969 and has been seeing tensions between Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear Malaysia is being ‘Islamised.’


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