Sri Lankan who wrote about Islam conversion held

Sri Lankan police have arrested an author who converted from Buddhism to Islam and wrote two books about taking up her new faith, police said Saturday.

Buddhism is the religion of some 70 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million people, and the country's constitution guarantees the faith a prominent role.

Authorities and many Sri Lankans are sensitive to perceived slights to Buddhism. Last week a mob hurled stones at a private broadcaster protesting a planned concert by R&B star Akon, who appeared in a music video in which scantily clad women dance in front of a Buddha statue.

Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody confirmed the arrest of Sarah Malini Perera - who lives in Bahrain but was visiting her native Sri Lanka when she was taken into custody. Jayakody said he did not know the reason for her detention.

The Bahrain-base Gulf Daily News reported Saturday that Perera was detained last week as she prepared to ship copies of her books to Bahrain after spending a holiday in Sri Lanka.

Perera, who converted to Islam in 1999, has written two books in her native Sinhalese about changing her faith, "From Darkness to Light" and 'Questions and Answers," the newspaper reported.

"I believe the books written by Ms. Perera are not against Buddhism," Bahrain Human Rights Society secretary-general Abdulla Al Deerazi told the newspaper.