Malaysia Catholic newspaper loses fight to use 'Allah'

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - An appeals panel ruled Monday that a Malaysian Catholic newspaper could not use "Allah" to refer to the Christian God, in a case that sparked attacks on places of worship three years ago.

The publishers of the Herald, who had argued that a 2009 government ban on the use of Allah in its Malay-language edition was unconstitutional, said after the ruling they planned to appeal to the higher Federal Court.