Inter-faith dialogue postponed, not canceled: Malaysian PM

An international Muslim- Christian dialogue, dubbed the "Building Bridges" Conference, has been postponed rather than canceled, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in Kuala Lumpur Saturday.

Badawi told reporters he has asked the organizer to move the conference, which was originally scheduled to kick off earlier this week here, to a later date as he wanted to attend the conference himself.

"I had to postpone it. We will find another suitable date," Badawi was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

In replying to a question, the prime minister said a new date has not been fixed yet.

The conference, organized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, is an annual get-together of religious academics convened after the Sept. 11 2001 attacks to foster inter-faith dialogue

The inter-faith conference was supposed to be held in Kuala Lumpur but was reportedly canceled by the Malaysian government at the last minute.

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. Islam is the national religion but many other religions are followed in this country.

Source: Xinhua