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Malaysia government withdraws ban on Catholic newspaper
Agence France Presse - January 9, 2009
Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia has withdrawn a ban on a Catholic newspaper's Malay-language edition imposed in a row over the use of the word "Allah", an official said Thursday.
The decision was made after the "Herald" weekly threatened to sue the government, the Home Ministry's publications control unit secretary Che Din Yusof told AFP.
"We received their letter. We have reviewed the decision and we will now allow them to print the Malay version provided that they don't use the word 'Allah' until it is decided in court," he said.
"They can publish as long as they don't use the word 'Allah', just use the word 'God'." The Herald, circulated among the country's 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence last year for using the word "Allah" as a translation for "God". Authorities said "Allah" should be used only by Muslims.
Last week, the newspaper was told it must stop publishing its Malay edition while the issue is resolved in the courts, as part of conditions for it to be allowed to continue printing its editions in English, Chinese and Tamil.
Murphy Pakiam, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and publisher of the weekly newspaper, said the move "reeks of ill will and bad faith" and was effectively retribution over the legal battle that is due to be decided next month.
Che Din denied the government was trying to punish the Herald. "We have long banned the word Allah (from being used in publications of other religions), it's not new," he said.
The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, welcomed Thursday's decision. "It's good. Our right has been reinstated, it was taken away from us unjustly," he told AFP.
On the condition that it will not be allowed to use the word "Allah", the editor said the issue will be left to the court to decide.
Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969. About 60 percent of the nation's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims, who dominate the government.
The rest of the population includes indigenous tribes as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians – practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.
Father Lawrence has said that more than half Malaysia's Catholics are from indigenous groups, most of whom live on the Borneo island states and who mainly speak Malay.
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