Imam killed in arson attack on Belgium mosque

In quite an astonishing move, an unidentified man set fire to Rida mosque, in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on Tuesday, leaving the Muslim community in a deep shock.

The imam (prayer leader) of the mosque lost his life in an act some linked to tensions between Sunnis and Shias, the two sects of Muslim community, Belgian newspapers reported.

Belgian Interior Minister observed, “This person went in (the mosque) hurling statements linked to the Syrian conflict. It appears to be a problem between Sunnis and Shias”.

She, however, said that investigators still had to confirm the motives. She clarified that Belgium will not tolerate this type of act and the importing of this type of conflict on its territory, saying that the government would take all possible steps to tackle the situation.

The area around the Brussels mosque, one of four Shia centers of worship in the city’s overwhelming majority Sunni Muslim community, has a large settler Muslim community.

According to the police officials, one person had been arrested and no other people were being sought in connection with the assault.

The newspaper Le Soir reported that a man entered the Shiite mosque in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels, shortly before 7pm local time armed with an axe, Molotov cocktails and a can of gasoline. The man broke windows and then threw the incendiary devices inside, it added.

The prayer leader, whom it reported to be 47 years old, died trying to extinguish the fire. However, his identification has not been ascertained so far.

More than 100 people gathered near the mosque after the incident, chanting Shia slogans behind a police tape as some prayed and others hugged or cried over the death of imam.

The mayor of the city’s Anderlecht ward, Gaetan Van Goidsenhoven, appealed for calm at an overnight press conference, saying “It was not only necessary to live side-by-side, but also to allow justice and the police to do their work”.

According to the media reports, Belgium has about half a million Muslims out of a population of 11 million.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=15618

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Mar 13 2012. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.