Church 'Raid': Selangor Forms Panel To Resolve Row

The Selangor state government today said it will set up a syura, or consultative council, to “resolve” the controversial raid by the Selangor state Islamic department (Jais) on a church in Petaling Jaya earlier this month.

Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said the three-member council will include state mufti Tamyes Abdul Wahid, his deputy Abdul Majid Omar and Khalid himself.

"The idea to form this syura council came from the Selangor Sultan when we had a discussion over the matter last week.

"I appreciate his highness' advice regarding how best to resolve this matter satisfactorily,” Khalid said in a statement.

This is Khalid's first statement on the issue in nearly two weeks.

The last time he spoke on the raid, he repeated the state government's position in that it wanted to wait for a full report from Jais before deciding on its next course of action.

Khalid also maintained a gaga order on state executive councillors and civil servants, imposed on Aug 5, a day after news broke on the Jais ‘inspection’ on a multi-racial thanksgiving dinner held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) premises in Section 13.