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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Angola denies banning Islam after outcry |
| 2013-11-27 |
| [Al Ahram] Angola's government on Tuesday denied it had banned Islam and closed mosques in the country, after speculation that sparked outrage among Mohammedans worldwide. "There is no war in Angola against Islam or any other religion," said Manuel Fernando, director of the National Institute for Religious Affairs, part of the ministry of culture. "There is no official position that targets the destruction or closure of places of worship, whichever they are," Fernando told AFP. Reports that Angola, a traditionally devout Catholic nation, would crack down on Mohammedans had drawn condemnation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and others. In Egypt, mufti Shawqi Allam said such a move would be "a provocation not only to Angolan Mohammedans but to more than 1.5 billion Mohammedans all over the world". The oil-rich southern African nation has a population of about 18 million people, several hundred thousand of whom are Mohammedan. Religious organizations are required to apply for accreditation in Angola, which currently recognises 83, all of them Christian. In October the justice ministry rejected the applications of 194 organizations, including one from the Islamic community. David Ja, a front man for local Mohammedans, challenged the government's account and said that a number of mosques had already been closed. Ja condemned what he described as "political persecution" and "religious intolerance." "A mosque was closed last week in Huambo (in the south) and we have been subjected to pressure this week regarding a mosque in Luanda," he said. According to the ministry of culture these closures were related to a lack of necessary land titles, building licenses or other official documents. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "Not bunning vermin, just fumigating." |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-11-27 05:06 |