(Updates with reaction from CWS)
NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - Afghanistan has suspended the activities of two foreign aid agencies pending a probe into allegations they were preaching Christianity in the Islamic nation where religious conversion is a criminal offence.
Ministry of Economy spokesman Sediq Amarkhil told AlertNet that members of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Church World Service(CWS) were filmed by an Afghan private television station "apparently inviting Afghan people to join
Christianity".
The report, which was broadcast by Noorin TV on Thursday and Friday last week, sparked protests by students in the capital Kabul at the weekend and demands that the two international
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) be closed down.
"We have decided to investigate whether these allegations are true or not, so we have suspended the activities of two aid agencies until the results of the investigation," Amarkhil said
by phone from Kabul.
Senior officials from both Norwegian Church Aid and Church World Service have denied proselytizing.
Hundreds of foreign and Afghan aid agencies work in the insurgency-wracked country providing vital aid such as food and water as well as longer-term development projects in health and education for millions of people.
But their efforts to rebuild the country, which has suffered more than three decades of violence, has made them a target for Taliban militants and some Afghans suspect them of being used as
a front by Western Christians intent on converting Muslims.
"NGOs are very important for Afghanistan and we need them to help us rebuild our country and help our people as the government does not have the resources to do this," Amarkhil said. "But we have to be sure that they follow our guidelines
and laws."
Amarkhil said the investigation would be completed soon and if the allegations were found to be true, the ministry would be forced to dissolve the NGOs.
He said criminal proceedings would be launched if they were found to have "acted against the constitution".
Norwegian Church Aid's general secretary, Atle Sommerfeldt, denied the allegations, saying the aid group had "no aim to get people to change religion in Afghanistan or globally".
"The NCA is not a mission organisation which is doing development work. We are a church-based organisation with a humanitarian and development aim and purpose," Sommerfeldt told AlertNet by phone from Oslo.
Sommerfeldt confirmed he had received a letter from Afghanistan's ministry of economy which referred to involvement in "anti-Islamic approaches" but said he did not know how the
misunderstanding could have arisen.
He said he was concerned that if the investigation took a long time, it could impact the organisation's relationship and work with local NGOs and in turn adversely affect the
communities they were helping.
"We are not afraid of any investigation in Afghanistan linked to this issue as we have no second agenda," Sommerfeldt added.
Maurice Bloem, CWS's deputy director, told AlertNet there was absolutely no possibility that the allegations could be true and that the group had the support of ACBAR - a coordination body for relief agencies.
"We have also sought the support of the Ministry of Public Health and local mullahs, because of our significant health presence in the Nangarhar and Laghman provinces," said Bloem.
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