Most Mandingos and hence most Muslims were allied with factions that opposed Taylor during the recent civil war and still belong to opposition parties. Two FM radio stations, one operated by the Roman Catholic archdiocese, the other an evangelical station, broadcast Christian-oriented religious programming from Monrovia to the capital and the surrounding area. There were no Islamic-oriented radio stations in the country, and little radio broadcasting of any kind in the northern and eastern counties where the Islamic population is concentrated. There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners. There were no reports of the forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Some tensions exist between the major religious communities.
The private sector in urban areas, particularly in the capital, gives preference to Christianity in civic ceremonies and observances, and discrimination against followers of other organized religions spills over into areas of individual opportunity and employment. There is an interfaith council that brings together leaders of the Christian and Islamic faiths. President Taylor criticized the arson attacks, blamed them on religious hatred, and promised to investigate. Although no arrests were made, there were no further arson incidents during the period covered by this report. In December 1998, there was a small number of violent clashes between Muslim and Christian youth groups in Monrovia during a Christian evangelical crusade.