Malay court clears Muslim of church firebomb attack

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A Malaysian court has cleared a Muslim man accused of firebombing a church, reports said Saturday, one of a spate of attacks on places of worship that escalated ethnic tensions.

Eleven churches were attacked with Molotov cocktails, stones and paint in violence earlier this year in Muslim-majority Malaysia, triggered by a ruling that overturned a ban on non-Muslims using "Allah" as a translation for "God".

Dispatch rider Azuwan Shah Ahmad and two brothers are the first to face the courts in connection with the attacks.

They were charged over the firebombing of a church in a southern suburb of Kuala Lumpur on January 7.

"There is insufficient evidence to link Azuwan Shah Ahmad, 23, to the offence," Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah said in acquitting him on Friday, according to the Star newspaper.

Witnesses reportedly told the court that Azuwan was only present at a gathering before the attack, but did not go to the church. Azuwan's lawyer could not be reached for comment.

The judge ruled that brothers Raja Mohamad Faizal Raja Ibrahim and Raja Mohamad Idzham should enter a defence after deciding prosecutors had established a case against them.

If convicted, the pair face up to 20 years in jail.

Religion and language are sensitive issues in multi-racial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.

The government argues that the use of the word "Allah" by Christians, who make up nine percent of the population, could cause confusion and encourage religious conversion, which is illegal for Malaysian Muslims.

The row is one of a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Malays and minorities who fear the country is being "Islamised".