Macedonian Orthodox Christian Church Set Alight

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — An Orthodox Christian church famed for its valuable icons was set alight in southern Macedonia overnight, authorities said Tuesday, amid religious tension between Christians and minority Muslims over a carnival in which Orthodox Christian men dressed as women in burqas and mocked the Quran.

Firefighters extinguished the fire late Monday in the two century-old Sveti Nikola church, near the town of Struga. The church’s roof was destroyed but its icons were not damaged, the fire service said.

Hours before the fire, Muslim leaders had appealed for calm among community members.

The Jan. 13 Vevcani festival prompted angry, sometimes violent demonstrations by Muslims, who are nearly all ethnic Albanian and make up 33 percent of the country’s 2.1 million population and accuse the majority of stoking hatred against them.

Ethnic tension has been simmering in this small Balkan country since the end of an armed rebellion in 2001, when ethnic Albanian rebels fought government forces for about eight months, seeking greater rights for their community. The conflict left 80 people dead, and ended with the intervention of NATO peacekeepers.

The Vevcani carnival, said to have been held for some 1,400 years, attracts thousands of visitors. Local residents traditionally wear elaborate, frequently sarcastic masks, with some of the most common costumes including devils and demons.

But this year’s perceived mockery of the Quran and the burqa costumes caused outrage.

On Saturday, protesters attacked an inter-city bus heading from Struga to Vevcani, throwing rocks at the vehicle but injuring nobody. They also defaced a Macedonian flag outside Struga’s municipal building, replacing it with a green flag representing Islam. On the same day, perpetrators attacked a church in the nearby village of Labunista, destroying a four-meter tall cross standing outside.

In a statement Monday, Macedonian Muslim leaders called for restraint but also accused the government of promoting Islamophobia.

Deputy Prime Minister Musa Xhaferi said such incidents “create discord” and “violate mutual respect and trust.”

“Regrettably in our country provocative acts are still occurring that are angering citizens regardless of which side they are from”, Xhaferi said.

Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia and elsewhere in the Balkans have traditionally been secular. But conservative Islamic schools, especially an ultra-conservative form of the religion known as Wahhabism, have taken a foothold in the years following the brief 2001 ethnic Albanian uprising.