Malaysian Govt condemns attacks on Christian churches.

(Jan.12,2010): Malaysia refused on Tuesday to stop using the word “Allah” for God, despite attacks on churches in a religious crisis that has raised concerns about the erosion of minority rights in the Muslim-majority country. Daniel Raut, a senior leader of the Borneo Evangelical
Church, the largest Malay-speaking congregation in the country, said it will not drop the use of the word “Allah,” even though Christians fear for their safety.
Nine churches have been attacked since Friday, with the assailants using firebombs and in one case, paint. The unprecedented attacks have strained ties between Christians and the majority Malay Muslims. The attacks were triggered by a Dec. 31 High Court decision that overturned a government ban on the use of “Allah” by Roman Catholics in the Malay-language edition of their main newspaper, the Herald. The ban and the ruling also apply to Malay-language Bibles, 10,000 copies of which were recently seized by authorities because they translated God as Allah. The government has condemned the attacks as the work of extremists, but also has appealed the ruling. Jamil Khir Baharom, the Cabinet minister responsible for Islamic affairs, called on Christian leaders to drop the use of “Allah” to help ease tensions.
About 9 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are ethnic Chinese or Indian. Muslims
make up 60 percent of the population and most are ethnic Malays.