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Arsonists Burn Down Mosque in Malawi
BLANTYRE, July 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A mosque in Malawi's northern district of Mzimba was burned down by arsonists over the weekend for yet unknown reasons, police told news agencies Wednesday.
"The police learned of this unwanted [unwarranted] behavior yesterday and we strongly condemn such barbaric action," police spokesman Oliver Soko told the French news agency AFP.
"We have four suspects under questioning. We want to find out the motive behind the gutting down of the mosque," he continued. "How can people have [the] courage to burn such a holy place?"
The last time mosques were torched in the northern region of the country was in 1999 - after President Bakili Muluzi, a Muslim, won the presidential elections.
Up to 68 people were arrested in relation to the 1999 attacks, but they were never brought to trial for reasons that remain undisclosed.
There has been growing anti-Muslim sentiment in Malawi since Muluzi assumed power in 1994. Critics say he is bent on "Islamizing" the largely Christian dominated southern African country.
Some Western news agencies report that up to 65 percent of the 11 million Malawians are Christians; the rest follow Islam and various animist religions.
Last month, Malawi's controversial Muslim leader, Sheik Abdul Hamid Bughdad el-Banna, who has sharply criticized President Muluzi, was attacked in his home.
Bughdad heads the Sunni Muslim Supreme council of Malawi, a breakaway faction of the mainstream Muslim Association of Malawi. The two differ on ideological beliefs.
He came to local prominence in May when he led a group of 600 Muslims in delivering a hard-hitting "sheikhs' letter" to Muluzi. The letter criticized the president on a number of democratic, social and economic issues.
Bughdad, along with four other senior Muslim scholars, were arrested and released on bail after being charged with leading an unlawful assembly.
In 1994, Muluzi was voted into office to replace President Hastings Banda, who had ruled with an iron fist for 30 years. As former cabinet minister under Banda, Muluzi freed political prisoners and allowed freedom of expression.
He reshuffled his cabinet at the end of 2000 after coming under heavy criticism from donor countries, agencies, opposition parties, religious leaders and civil rights groups for his inaction in the face of reports of fraud and corruption in his government.
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