Indonesian Muslim Assails Forced Closure of Churches

At a recent House of Representatives hearing, council head Umar Shihab said the forcible closing of 23 Christian places of prayer by mobs in the past year were "a form of violence, and as such could not be justified by the Koran or proper Muslim teaching."

The Missionary Service News Agency and Vatican Radio quoted him saying that his council, made up of scholars of Islamic religion and law, "has clearly never tolerated such arbitrary things by taking the law into one's own hands."

The Ulema Council did not, however, propose the withdrawal of the controversial ministerial decree on the construction of venues to host religious services, considered by many Christians to be a deliberate obstacle to their establishing new churches.