_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ Malaysia ________________

Islamic threats
Religious minorities concerned
Christians and followers of other non-Muslim religions are increasingly concerned about the growing threat of militant Islamic extremists in Malaysia, the Fides news service has reported.

Extremists are launching attacks on Christian churches of various denominations and Hindu temples, Fides reports. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Sikhism has highlighted the discrimination non-Muslim faiths face, such as difficulties in obtaining permission to build places of worship, restrictions on sharing their faiths, and unequal access to media outlets.

The latest of a series of arson attempts came on October 27 when extremists set ablaze the Christ Community Center Church in Subang Jaya. Earlier attacks, on October 13 and 14, included an attempt to torch the Catholic Church of Christ the King in Sungai Petani, some 190 miles northwest of Kuala Lumpur; and Molotov cocktails thrown at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, in Segamat in the southern state of Johore (fortunately only the door was damaged).

Members of a Malaysian Mujahideen group, whose members were reportedly trained in Afghanistan, were suspected of torching the Marthoma Christian Community Center, also in Sungai Petani, last July, and bombing another church and a Hindu temple.

The most recent crimes are seen as reaction to the US-led military attacks in Afghanistan, and it is believed that militant Islam in Malaysia is influenced by extremist groups in neighboring countries such as Indonesia’s Laskar Jihad. Similar fear is said to be growing in Singapore and the Philippines, Fides reported, adding that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has warned of an Islamic extremist network in the region.

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