U.S. Missionaries being Investigated in Dubai

Posted March 4, 2005
Thu Mar 3, 2005 05:34 AM ET
DUBAI (Reuters)

Dubai authorities are investigating two U.S. missionaries on suspicion of distributing Christian compact discs and Bibles in the Muslim Gulf Arab emirate, a local newspaper said on Thursday.

A U.S. embassy official confirmed the report but declined to give details, citing the U.S. privacy act. Local authorities were not available for comment on the Muslim weekend.

The United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, forbids proselytising by non-Muslims.

Gulf News daily quoted a Dubai Justice Department official as saying the two women, on a missionary trip with the Tom Cox Evangelistic Association, were detained last month and then freed on bail.

He said the missionaries had been referred to the public prosecution on Feb. 21 but that they had not been charged.

Tom Cox Evanglestic Association said in a statement on its Web site it was working with the authorities to ensure the return of the two women, whom it identified as Marie Bush and Vivian Gilmer.

"Marie and Vivian are in very good spirits and have been treated well during their stay in Dubai. It appears that they will be home with their families by this weekend, although details will not be available until the end of the week," it said in a statement dated March 3.

In 1993 a UAE court sentenced a British man to six months in prison for handing out Christian literature to Iranians.

Dubai, unlike other places in the Gulf which follow Islamic law to the letter, tries to cater to differing cultures and religions and has both churches and mosques.