KADUNA: Muslim and Christian leaders met in northern Nigeria on Thursday to sign a peace pact designed to stop the region falling back into bloody sectarian violence.
Some 2,000 clergy and believers met four days after an Islamic court threw out the appeal of a young Muslim mother sentenced to death by stoning, angering opponents of Islam's Sharia law code.
The representatives of the two communities, which make up about half each of Nigeria's population of more than 120 million, signed the "Kaduna Peace Declaration" in this northern administrative centre.
"In the name of God who is almighty, merciful, and compassionate we have gathered as Muslim and Christian religious leaders in Kaduna State to pray for peace," a joint statement said.
"We are committed to ending the violence and bloodshed that has marred our recent history."
When Kaduna state reintroduced the Sharia law in April 2000 it triggered rioting between the communities that left more than 2,000 dead.
Muhammad Ashafa of Interfaith, a Christian-Muslim dialogue forum based in Kaduna said by telephone that the pledge offered a chance for peaceful coexistence.
"We witnessed religious violence two years ago that caused so much death and destruction and which did nobody any good. It only succeeded in breeding more mutual hatred and suspicion among followers of the two faiths," he said.
"We believe Nigeria belongs to both Muslims and Christians who must learn to accomodate each other and live in peace.
"With this meeting all the unpleasant events of the past are forgotten and a new dawn of mutual understanding, tolerance, peaceful coexistence has arrived," Ashafa said.
The day long inter-faith conference was supported by foreign churches, including the Anglican cathedral in Coventry, England, and messages of support were received from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
On Monday a Sharia court in Funtua, 140 km north of Kaduna, confirmed a death sentence imposed on 30-year-old Amina Lawal for bearing a child out of wedlock.
The sentence was condemned by human rights groups and both the United States and the European Union expressed concerns that if carried out it could break Nigeria's commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.