Friday protests tame affair

Despite widespread concerns, the simultaneous protest at three mosques in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam turned out to be a tame affair.

The biggest number of protesters were at Masjid Negara, where several hundreds vented their frustration over the court ruling on the 'Allah' issue under the watchful eyes of some 50 police personnel while a police helicopter hovered above.

Armed with banners and placards, the crowd dispersed after about 10 minutes.

During the protest, one of the leaders read out a declaration, which among others, urged Christians to use the word 'Tuhan' instead of 'Allah'.

They also wanted the issue to be decided by the Syariah court and not through civil proceedings.

More than a dozen banners were strung up around the compound of the iconic building. Among others, the banners read 'Do not belittle Islam' and 'We vow to defend Islam and the Malay rulers'.

Earlier, scores of people inked a memorandum at the entrance of the mosque.

At the Kampung Baru mosque, there were only a handful of protesters who gathered briefly. A signature campaign was carried out here as well.

In Shah Alam, things took a political twist with the protesters targetting Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and PAS MP Khalid Samad.

Some of the protesters were seen stomping on the menteri besar's poster while a banner accused PAS' Khalid of 'sodomising' the religion.