Anglican bishop of the Diocese of Malaita, Reverend Sam Sahu, is calling on Muslim leaders in the province to hand over the suspect who allegedly assaulted an Anglican priest.
After a meeting last Monday with the Muslim leaders, he called on them to assist police in locating the suspect Jack Rade.Rade is on the run after he escaped from police custody December last year.
Reverend Sahu says such incidents should not have happened amongst religious groups in the country.
He says if the members of the Muslim group have any disagreements with the priest they should approach him and talk to him.
The bishop says although the Muslims said they were willing to hand over the suspect, they were really defending him during their meeting on Tuesday.
Reverend Sahu says that he has waited this long to come to the media because he was working on trying to open up a case against Rade which he already did.
On Tuesday last week, leaders from Anglican, Catholic, SDA and Muslims met in Auki to discuss simmering tensions between Muslims and communities in east Malaita.
The next meeting will be held next month and will include leaders of all denominations both in Malaita and Honiara.
Source: SIBC News