Bissau, Guinea-Bissau -- The government of Guinea-Bissau has banned the Ahmadia sect, charging that it has been "a threat to peace and stability" since being authorised in the country last January.
Government spokesperson and minister in charge of Relations with Parliament Filomeno de Pina the sect was posing a grave threat to the unity of the Islamic community in Guinea-Bissau.
The sect had previous been banished from the country in 2001 by the then president Kumba Yala. Only last month, a Muslim mob attacked five of its members.
The Islamic community, which accounts for 30 percent of the electorate and is concentrated mainly in eastern Guinea-Bissau has threatened to boycott the next elections if the sect was allowed to continue in the country.
However, ordinary Bissau Guineans regard the ban as illegal, particularly as the State Counsel last January authorised the sect to resume activities.