Malaysians advised to go home

Malaysians advised to go home

MALAYSIA: Malaysia has criticized an Indonesian Islamic religious school, the Pesantren Al-Zaitun, as deviationist and wants 111 Malaysian students there to leave the institution and return home, a news report said on Friday.

Prime Minister's Department Minister Abdul Hamid Zainal Abidin, who is also de facto religious affairs minister, said students at the school risked being taught ideas that were un- Islamic.

He also told the Utusan Malaysia daily that Indonesia had disagreed with Malaysia's findings on the school, which is part of an extensive chain of religious schools in the world's largest Muslim country.

The school also was linked to teachings that were thought to have been propagated by an ultra-conservative Muslim sect, the Al-Arqam, which is banned in Malaysia, Hamid added. --DPA