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