Several churches have been attacked on the predominantly Muslim island of Zanzibar off the Tanzanian coast, a church official said on Tuesday.
"One church was burnt totally last week," Julian Kangalawe of the Tanzanian Episcopal Conference said, but nobody was injured.
The church attacked over the weekend was Roman Catholic. It was the third recent attack on a church on the island. Earlier in the week, a Lutheran church was set on fire, and the wall of another Roman Catholic church was destroyed.
Suspicion has fallen on Muslim extremists, showing rising religious and political tension on the island. Presidential and legislative elections are expected in 2005. The last elections, in 2000, were marred by voter intimidation, politically motivated violence and other irregularities.
In April, three other churches were attacked.
Kangalawe said that religious intolerance is increasing on the island, giving as an example that during the holy month of Ramadan last year, people were attacked for eating during the day.