ZANZIBAR, JANUARY 13, 2015 (CISA) – Ambassador Philip Marmo of the new United Republic of Tanzania to the Holy See has denied reports of anti-Christian sentiments in Zanzibar.
“I think it is mass generalisation to say there are anti-Christian sentiments by Muslims in Zanzibar. As you know, Christianity in Eastern and Central Africa started in Zanzibar,” Ambassador Marmo told Vatican Radio on January 12.
“Since then Christians and Muslims have been living in peace, side by side,” he added.
The Tanzanian envoy admitted that there have been incidents of terrorism and just ordinary criminal activities as would be expected in any part of the world. He said that when there have been terrorist incidents, investigations always show that the culprits are from outside Tanzania.
The Ambassador further said that the last twenty months on the Island have been ‘quiet’ because the Tanzanian Government has been, “cracking down on Islamic terrorism both on the mainland and in Zanzibar.”
Zanzibar is the semi-autonomous archipelago of islands in the Indian Ocean about 35 Kilometres off the coast of mainland Tanzania. The first Christian Churches – Anglican and Catholic were built in Zanzibar in the 1870s.
