A Roman Catholic newspaper asked the court on Friday to overturn a government ruling prohibiting it from using the word "Allah" in its publication.

The case is the latest in a series of religious disputes that is feeding fears of a gradual erosion of the rights of non-Muslims in the mainly Muslim Malaysia.

The government in December renewed the publishing permit of the Kuala Lumpur-based "Herald - the Catholic Weekly" but insisted that it not use the word Allah in its publication.

This followed a state decree that the term Allah, long used by Christians in Malaysia to refer to God, could no longer be used by non-Muslims.

"We are saying that that decision should be squashed and there should also be a declaration that The Herald is entitled to use the word 'Allah'," Porres Royan, a lawyer for the Herald, said outside the court after a brief mention of the case.

Nearly 100 Christians, including Malaysia's Roman Catholic archbishop, packed the court to hear the case.

A High Court judge fixed April 29 for the trial. It could take weeks before the court delivers its ruling.

Herald's annual publishing permit expires in October.

Politically dominant ethnic Malay Muslims form about 60 percent of the population of roughly 27 million, while the ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities include Hindus, Buddhists and Christians.