Kuala Lumpur, January 08: A church was set on fire in Malaysia on Thursday by unidentified attackers amid a growing conflict in the country over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims, officials said.
Only the first floor office of the Metro Tabernacle Church was destroyed in the blaze that started a little after midnight, said church spokesman Kevin Ang. The worship areas on the upper two floors were undamaged, and there were no injuries.
The church is located in a three-storey building on a shopping street in Desa Melawati, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, the main city of this Muslim-majority country.
The attack on the Protestant church comes days after the Kuala Lumpur High Court struck down a three-year-old ban on non-Muslims using the word "Allah" in their literature.
The government has appealed against the court verdict, which allowed a Catholic publication to use the common word for God in the Malay language, and the High Court has suspended its decision from being enforced until the appeal is heard.
Muslims argue that "Allah" is exclusive to Islam, and its use by Christians would confuse Muslims and tempt them to convert to Christianity.
The court decision has resulted in a rash of angry comments and threats by Muslims on the Internet. Dozens of Muslim groups are planning a protest against the court decision today after weekly prayers.
--PTI
http://www.siasat.com/english/news/church-set-fire-malaysia-officials