UPDATE 1-INTERVIEW-Indonesia has no plans to ban Islamic sect

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By Sara Webb and Olivia Rondonuwu

JAKARTA, June 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia's vice president said the government does not plan to ban a sect branded by many Muslims as "heretical", and denied too that authorities had been soft on a militant Islamic group blamed for attacks.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that the Ahmadiyya sect can continue in Indonesia and its followers were allowed to worship in their homes and mosques, but they must not preach or try to convert others,

"No, they (the government) have no plan to ban Ahmadiyya," provided it follows the law, Kalla said.

The government has come under increasing pressure from hardline and some mainstream Muslim groups to outlaw Ahmadiyya, whose followers do not accept the Prophet Mohammad as Islam's final prophet and who say their founder is a prophet and messiah.

On Monday, the government issued a ministerial decree that stopped short of banning the sect, while warning that followers could face five years in jail for tarnishing religion.

The decree, which has been slammed by rights groups, simply reiterated what is permitted under the constitution, Kalla said.

Mosques and buildings belonging to Ahmadiyya, which is estimated to have anywhere from 200,000 to two million followers in Indonesia, have been attacked in recent months.