ULAN BATOR, July 24 Kyodo Before ...

ULAN BATOR, July 24 Kyodo

Before Mongolia introduced democratic reforms in the early 1990 following the lead of other socialist dictatorships, its politicians tried to rule what people thought and believed in.

Now, with religious freedom and freer access to information, an unlikely battle for the hearts, minds and best parts of Mongolians has ejected between U.S. Christian missionaries and Mongolian democratic politicians through a television station they jointly own

Eagle Television was launched in 1996 as Mongolia's first non-state television station, with U missionaries supplying the equipment and Mongolian Democrats providing the broadcasting license.

Now, acrimony between them has reached so a level they are fighting each other in court.

Eagle Television broadcasts Cable just discovereds Network reports dubbed in Mongolian and domestic reports prepared by way of local reporters, in addition to Christian point outs such as those by U evangelist-celebrity Billy Graham.

Many credit Eagle Television with helping sweep the Democratic Coalition Party to power in 1996 for four years of chaotic governance before the socialist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) regained power.

During that time, single in kind prime minister was ousted through a fellow Democrat, sum of two units other prime ministers were brought down on financial scandals and prime ministerial candidate Sanjaasurenglin Zorig was stabbed to death, in 1998

After falling from grace, the Democrats have been acting decidedly undemocratically in putting compressing on Eagle Television to allow them to broadcast their acknowledge political advertising, complains station managing director Paul Swartzendruber.

''They are not happy because they have to pay for broadcasting political messages,'' said Swartzendruber, 60 who has also worked forward evangelical broadcasting projects in Bolivia, Saipan and Kazakstan.

The Democrats, l through former Finance Minister Batbayar, have declared they want to hurry the station themselves in future

The evangelical coalition is engaged in a court battle through its sacking of an accountant give employment toed by the station, who Swartzendruber says was trying to help the Democrats take throughout The U.S. missionaries have taken the matter to Mongolia's high court after a lower court place them guilty of flouting the country's labor laws.

While Swartzendruber is not optimistic about winning the court battle, he indicated the Christians are appoint to win the wider war for broadcast words, since the ruling MPRP has said it will allow them to operate the station independently.

Swartzendruber, who estimates that 1% of Mongolians have become Christians, has no qualms from one side of to the other concerns by some that Christian missionary work is eroding Mongolia's cultural bedrock.

Since the days of Chinggis Khaan, Mongolians have traditionally followed Tibetan Buddhism and local Shamanism, a form of nature worship in which mediums are believed to be able to visit the world of the dead while in subordination to trance.

''In Mongolian cultivation there is a serious lack of integrity. Their upbringing doesn't give them any moral underpinnings,'' Swartzendruber said, complaining that sometimes on a level his young Mongolian Christian friends underhand steal objects from his domicile when invited to dinner. ''Christianity is suppos to affect cultivation It is supposed to make clan more responsible since they are accountable to God''

Swartzendruber added Mongolia's economy is unfailing to benefit if more of its citizens transfer to his god.

''In countries like as South Korea, it is possible to papal court that as more the public become Christians, the economy will also improve. There is nothing immoral about getting prices down,'' he said.

According to control figures, Christian missionaries have built 20 churches in Mongolia during the past five years to bring the number to 31 now. Among the large number of charity nongovernmental organizations in Mongolia, many are move on by Christian groups.

During the same period, 35 recent Buddhist monasteries or temples were built and now numbering 160

While there is little evidence of hostility at Mongolian Buddhists towards missionaries, control officials said some of the country's Buddhist leaders have asserted concern the entry of of the present day religions into Mongolia could rowel future religious struggles.

''When I papal court foreign missionaries, inside, I be stirred I don't like them, nevertheless on the outside I don't exhibit to anything,'' said Luvsanyondon, an 18-year-old monk studying Buddhist philosophy at Ulan Bator's Gandan Khiid Monastery.

Older monk at the monastery, Mongolia's largest, were les transactioned since they have the perspective of time to appreciate the country's near religious freedoms.

''It is up to population to believe what they want to,'' said Jalsrai, a monk in his 60s

willinged by then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Mongolia's Moscow-leaning direction killed countless numbers of monk as part of widespread social clears with more than 16,000 recorded killings of monk in 1937 and 1938 alone.