KUALA LUMPUR, August 12, 2008 (AFP) - A Catholic newspaper in Malaysia battling a government ban on its use of the word 'Allah' has been rapped for reporting on political issues including terrorism, its editor said Tuesday.

The Herald newspaper, circulated among the country's 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence for using the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God,' with authorities saying it should only be used by Muslims.

The weekly was warned not to print 'Allah' in the future, but instead it mounted an ongoing legal challenge to revoke the ban on the word, which is also used in the Malay-language Bible.

Now the publication is facing another attack by the Muslim-dominated government, with a demand from the home ministry that it explain its coverage of issues considered 'non-religious,' in breach of its publishing licence.

Its editor Father Lawrence Andrew said the newspaper had not violated its licence, maintaining that religious affairs were not just confined to church rituals but also involve aspects of society.

'They are saying that we are getting into politics, but when there's so much corruption we have to speak the truth, we have to speak about ethics, this is part of religion,' he told AFP.

Andrew said two articles that offended the authorities dealt with the conversion to Catholicism of an Egyptian-born Muslim, and another about 'jihad' or holy war, written by an American priest.

'They felt it was running down Islam,' he said. 'Of course, when you talk about 9/11 they take it as going against Islam.'

Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.

About 60 percent of the nation's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims, who dominate the government. The rest of the population are mostly ethnic Chinese and Indians -- practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism.