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Malaysian Shi'ites Appeal for Protection From Persecution

   VOA News 28 December 2010

   Leaders  of  Malaysia's  Shi'ite Muslim community have appealed to the
   nation's  human  rights  commission for protection against persecution
   because of their faith.
   Rights  commission  officials  said  Tuesday  that  Shi'ite  community
   leaders are upset after 200 of their members were arrested at a prayer
   meeting  earlier  this  month.  Shi'ite leaders say the sect has about
   40,000  followers  in  Malaysia  who practice their religion mainly in
   secret.
   Malaysia,  where  nearly  two-thirds  of  the population is Muslim, is
   generally  tolerant  of  other  religions.  But  it  allows  only  the
   mainstream  Sunni  branch  of  Islam,  barring other forms of Islam as
   deviant cults.
   Sunni  Islam  is  dominant  across the globe, but Shi'ites account for
   about  15  percent  of  Muslims worldwide, and are a majority in a few
   countries, including Iraq and Iran.
   The  French  news  agency  quotes  an unidentified government official
   saying  the  200  Shi'ites  arrested  this month have been released on
   bail. AFP says they included Pakistanis, Iranians and Indonesians.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.