Just media rumours: Angola denies it banned Islam
An official at the Angolan Embassy said Angola is a country that does not interfere in religion.
An official at the Angolan Embassy said Angola is a country that does not interfere in religion. PHOTO: FILE
Angola became a hot topic in the international media over the weekend, as news outlets around the world wrote about reports that the Southwest African nation had banned Islam and begun to dismantle mosques.
But an official at the Angolan Embassy in Washington, DC, who did not want to be identified discussing the sensitive matter, said that there is no such ban in place and that the reports are erroneous, according to the International Business Times.
“The Republic of Angola … it’s a country that does not interfere in religion,” the official said on Monday afternoon. “We have a lot of religions there. There is freedom of religion.”
News of Angola’s supposed ban on Islam originated in the African press, which went so far as to quote the nation’s president and Minister of Culture as offering statements that suggested the premise of the reports was accurate.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2013.
But an official at the Angolan Embassy in Washington, DC, who did not want to be identified discussing the sensitive matter, said that there is no such ban in place and that the reports are erroneous, according to the International Business Times.
“The Republic of Angola … it’s a country that does not interfere in religion,” the official said on Monday afternoon. “We have a lot of religions there. There is freedom of religion.”
News of Angola’s supposed ban on Islam originated in the African press, which went so far as to quote the nation’s president and Minister of Culture as offering statements that suggested the premise of the reports was accurate.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2013.