KUALA LUMPUR (UCAN) -- The Christian Federation of Malaysia responded positively after a government minister admitted the recent confiscation of 32 bibles from a Catholic woman at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport was improper.

"We appreciate that the Deputy Minister of Internal Security Fu Ah Kiow has taken action to have the bibles returned to the person concerned, explaining that the customs officer had no such authority to seize the Bibles," Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing of Melaka-Johor, the federation's chairperson, said in a press release dated Feb. 5.

The Star, a national English-language daily, reported on its website that same day that Fu said the bibles had been returned. It added that in January, after a ministry unit seized Christian children's books with drawings of prophets, he ordered the books returned.

The more recent incident occurred on Jan. 28, when a customs officer at the airport's Low Cost Carrier Terminal seized bibles Juliana Nicholas was carrying on her return from Manila. She was later told she could collect them from an office near the airport.

Aside from recovering the bibles, Nicholas, a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Klang, about 30 kilometers southwest of the capital, sought a formal apology and an assurance that such an incident would not recur.

In his press release Bishop Tan said that even though the Christian federation appreciates Fu's intervention, it nevertheless "registers its protest in the strongest terms" about the confiscation of the bibles.

The government, he said, cannot "infringe on our right to use our sacred book and other Christian literature." Noting that "this is not an isolated case," the bishop asked the deputy minister to issue a directive to all government agencies, especially Internal Security officers, to desist from such actions.

The earlier incident referred to in report carried by The Star occurred in December, when Internal Security officials seized English-language Christian children's books from bookshops in various locations because they contained illustrations of prophets also honored in Islam. The officials deemed this could be offensive to Muslims, since Islam prohibits such representations.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi heads the Ministry of Internal Security.

Aloysius Pinto, a Catholic who conducts formation programs for a number of churches, told UCA News that the government "does not like these incidents" taking place due to media coverage in a globalized world.

However, he said that due to the Islamization process begun by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, lower-level officials commit these actions "out of a sense of duty to Islam."

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