http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\03\26\story_26-3-2009_pg7_4
Thursday, March 26, 2009 Niger outlaws Muslim street preachers NIAMEY: Niger has banned Islamic preachers from the airwaves as well as streets and markets to prevent "religious anarchy" in the west African country, the Religious Affairs Ministry announced on Wednesday. In a statement, the ministry said it had outlawed the broadcasting of preachers and religious debates "likely to create ill-feeling and present a severe test of social cohesion". "Some religious circles resort to insults, through the media, or broadcast provocative preachers and messages likely to upset the tranquillity between the different Muslim brotherhoods," Religious Affairs Minister Issaka Labo said on state television. Muslim associations must in future have official authorisation to preach in public areas, and provide the authorities with the venue, date and the hour the sermon is to take place, according to the ministry. The vast majority of the state's 13 million population are Muslim, mostly moderate Sunnis. There are small Christian and Bahai communities. Despite the rapid growth of Islamisation in recent years, Niger has managed to avoid the religious violence, which has hit its southern neighbour Nigeria. The government has tried to regulate Islamic preachers since 2006, warning that "tendentious sermons going beyond the instructions of the holy Quran" would not be tolerated. afp Home | National