ANGOLA DENIES BAN ON ISLAM

For nearly three days, the African nation of Angola made it to the news and caused much uproar all over social networking sites and among the media outlets across the world with news coming in that Angola had become the first country in the world to ban Islam and had begun demolishing mosques.

However, on Monday, the Angolan Embassy in Washington DC, clarified that there was no such ban and these malicious reports were aimed at creating tension in the country.

The official, refusing to be named, told International Business Times in a telephonic conversation, "The Republic of Angola... it's a country that does not interfere in religion. We have a lot of religions there. It is freedom of religion. We have Catholic, Protestants, Baptists, Muslims and evangelical people."

The news of the supposed ban originated in the African press and even quoted the country's culture minister, Rosa Cruz e Silva, as well as the President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to lend it credibility.

In the reports, Silva was quoted as saying, "The process of legalisation of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice."

President Santos was quoted as saying, "This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country."

The embassy official further said that President Santos had been out of the country for a week and that he couldn't possibly have made such a remark.

He also clarified that no such reports had been published in Angolan newspapers.

Angola is a Christian dominated country of about 16 million people of whom nearly 55 per cent are Catholic, 25 per cent are from various African Christian denominations. Only 80,000 to 90,000 Angolas are believed to be Muslim.