Malaysia defends stance on “Allah” dispute

KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia on Monday defended its refusal to allow non-Muslims to use the word "Allah", as a dispute over the issue saw a ninth church attacked in a spate of fire-bombings and vandalism.

The Sidang Injil Borneo Church in the central state of Negri Sembilan was the latest to be targeted amid anger over a court decision to overrule a government ban on Malaysia's minorities using "Allah" as a translation for "God".

The church attacks which erupted last Friday have sent tensions soaring in the multicultural nation, where the Muslim Malay majority lives alongside ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

Home Ministry secretary-general Mahmood Adam, who briefed foreign diplomats on the crisis Monday, said they had asked why the term was off-limits when it is widely used by Christians in Indonesia and the Middle East.

"They don't understand the situation here, they just want to know why it can be allowed in other countries and not here," he told reporters.

"Be fair, you have to compare apples to apples, oranges to oranges. Our landscape is different from other countries. Malays here are different from (Muslims in) other countries. Agencies