The Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati here was burned and damaged after a group of youths threw flammable materials into the ground floor of the church located in a shoplot.

No one was injured in the incident as the church was empty at that time.


It was believed the incident, which occurred at about 12.30am, happened after a group of youths on motorcycles rode up to the church, smashed the glass panels on the ground floor of the three-storey building and later threw some materials into the building that started a fire.

Church lay leader Rtd Major Peter Yeow, 62, said witnesses were not near enough to get a closer look at the youths who sped away after the act.


The witnesses then called the police as well as the Fire and Rescue Department, which arrived within minutes and doused the fire.

City CID chief SAC 11 Datuk Ku Chin Wah confirmed the incident. It is believed that a molotov cocktail was thrown into the church. SAC Ku said the police were investigating the incident from all angles.

*The predawn attacks are heightening tensions in the Muslim-majority country ahead of a series of protests planned for later in the day. Many of the country's Muslims, who make up 60% of the population, are furious over a High Court decision to overturn a government ban on Roman Catholics using Allah as a translation for God in the Malay-language pages of their weekly newspaper. Some Islamists argue that the word is exclusive to the Muslim faith.*

Article was extrated from The Star and Wall Street Journal