A/55/280 44. It is reported that, on 17 March 2000, in Saeedabad, a suburb of Faisalabad, at least 200 Muslim extremists attacked a Christian community as a punishment against Ashiq Masih, who had apparently decided to return to the Christian faith after his conversion to Islam. The police were alerted and intervened, but arrested Ashiq Masih on the orders of the Deputy Commissioner of Faisalabad. It is claimed that the latter was acting on a complaint by a Muslim extremist. The accused was reportedly detained in the Faisalabad district prison, although no appropriate investigation was conducted. It is said that the family of Ashiq Masih also constantly receives death threats. Philippines 45. Since March 2000, on the island of Mindanao, Muslim extremists have reportedly been creating a climate of intolerance against the Catholic community. The extremist group Al Harukatul is alleged to have taken pupils and teachers from the Tumahugong Catholic School hostage. Furthermore, in the town of Jolo, there are said to be posters calling on Christians to convert to Islam. Sri Lanka 46. On 17 May 2000, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are alleged to have organized a bomb attack against a Buddhist temple in Batticaloa, in which 22 civilians were killed. 47. Sri Lanka replied: A powerful bomb was set off by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at around 5.30 p.m. on Vesak day (15 May), the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar, killing 16 civilians, mostly of the Tamil community, and 6 security force personnel. The blast also injured more than 75 civilians. The bomb went off in the eastern town of Batticaloa, near the Mangalarama Buddhist temple, where a Vesak celebration was being attended by a large number of civilians from both the Sinhala and Tamil communities. The day also marked the first time Vesak Poya was declared an international holiday by the United Nations. The President of Sri Lanka strongly condemned this barbaric act by the ruthless terrorist group LTTE, which is fighting against a democratically elected Government in order to carve out a mono-ethnic State in Sri Lanka. The President also placed on alert civil defence committees already set up in different parts of the country in order to protect civilians and prevent violence. The blast in the eastern town of Batticaloa, where the main Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities have been living harmoniously, seemed an attempt by the LTTE to trigger an ethnic backlash and bolster their claim for a separate State. The LTTE’s attacks on innocent civilians and Buddhist temples and Muslim mosques began many years ago. The attack on the Temple of the Sacred Bo Tree at Anaradhapura on 14 May 1985 killing 120 civilians including a Buddhist monk, the killing of 30 Buddhist monks and 4 civilians at Arantalawa on 2 June 1987, the assassination of the chief priest of the Dimbulagala Temple on 26 May 1995, and the attack on and killing of 103 Muslims at prayer at the Jumma and Hussainia mosques in Kattankudy, Batticaloa, on 3 August 1990 are a few examples of LTTE brutality. Like the Vatican for the Christians and Mecca for the Muslims, Buddhists hold sacred the Temple of the Tooth Relic at Kandy. LTTE bombed this Buddhist shrine and UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site on 25 January 1998. The aim of the LTTE in these cases seemed to be to stall the effort by the Government and democratic parties in Sri Lanka towards a political solution to the ethnic issue by aggravating the ethnic disharmony through provoking different religious communities (Buddhists and Muslims) in Sri Lanka. There is no doubt that Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims have been deeply shocked by this brutal attack, but no religious society acted with commendable restraint. Turkmenistan 48. On 21 June 1999, in Gyzylarbat, members of the National Security Committee are reported to have arrested Annamammedov Yazmammed, a Jehovah’s Witness, in order to take him to the office of the director of this congregation. Annamammedov Yazmammed was allegedly threatened with physical violence with the intention of forcing him to renounce his faith and to reveal the names of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Gyzylarbat. It is claimed that he was 11