|PIC1| The chief mission executive of the United Methodist Church has condemned recent church burnings in Alabama, U.S., as an attack on religious liberty and a reminder of the urgent need for spiritual healing.

Nine Alabama Baptist churches were set on fire in the first week of February, while a tenth was set ablaze on Saturday afternoon.

The Rev. R. Randy Day described the incidents as “a grim reminder of the values and the fragile nature of religious liberty in the United States”.

Rev. Day, who heads the General Board of Global Ministries, the mission wing of the United Methodist Church, added: “We join spiritual hands with the people of the violated congregations in this time of pain and uncertainty.”

Five church buildings, four predominantly white congregations and one predominantly African American church, were destroyed completely by the first outbreak of arson attacks in Bibb County, in south central Alabama.

|TOP|In the second round of torchings later in the week, another four churches, all of which were African American, were set alight in the western part of the city. The tenth fire attack on Saturday left nothing but rubble.

Rev. Day said that “the malice that provokes such violence is a stark reminder of the need for healing and reconciliation in the broken lives of the arsonists and in some parts of American society.”

Denouncing the large numbers of churches burned by arsonists in the U.S. each year, Rev. Day also called for respect to religious liberty, stating that “members of all religious groups and communities deserve the right to go to sleep at night without fear that their houses of worship will be destroyed in the darkness.”

The churches in the latest outbreak of arson attacks are all located in relatively isolated areas of Alabama, with reports indicating that several of the blazes were started in the areas of the pulpit of communion tables.

|QUOTE|“Little could be more offensive to Christian people than attacks on proclamation and sacraments,” Day said.

Special Agent Eric Kehn, public information officer for the national field division for the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said Sunday that agents are following up 350 leads and examining forensic evidence in their labs.

"We’d like to communicate with these people," said Kehn who suspects the perpetrators to be two “white males in their early 20s or 30s”.

He said: "They may be close friends, buddies, almost inseparable from one-another. They may appear to have a smoky smell to their clothes or cars. They may have some type of burns due to the obvious nature of the fires. We’re also interested in a blue-coloured vehicle resembling a Nissan Pathfinder that may have been seen in the areas of these fires.”

A reward of $20,000 is being offered for anyone who gives information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.