Ethiopian Evangelical Christian Churches Are Burnt by Muslims, Group Says

Mar 4, 2011

Churches and homes used by evangelical Christians in southwestern Ethiopia were burned down by Muslims over the past two days, according to International Christian Concern.

Federal police in the Horn of Africa nation intervened after three churches and two houses were torched following an alleged burning of the Koran in Asendabo, the Washington DC- based rights group said in a statement on its website.

Two more churches were then burned, it said, citing local church leaders. Asendabo is about 280 kilometers (174 miles) southwest of Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Communications Minister Bereket Simon said that only two houses used for worship were burned in the incident.

“No one has died,” he said by phone from Addis Ababa. “It’s a very minor, isolated incident.”

Calls to the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council weren’t answered or didn’t connect when Bloomberg News sought comment today.

Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church, an Addis Ababa-based evangelical organization, said today it would make a statement once it had met with the government and carried out its own investigation.

Incidents of religious strife in Ethiopia are rare, although there have been sectarian clashes in the south-west in recent years.

Ethiopia’s population includes 34 percent Muslims and 63 percent Christians, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Source: bloomberg

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