Imam of a mosque near Brussels get killed
BRUSSELS, March 13 (UPI) -- A suspect is in custody for an apparent arson attack on a mosque near Brussels that killed the mosque's imam and injured another person, police said.
Officials said a motive for the attack Monday at the religious facility in the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht was not known, CNN reported Tuesday.
"One must remain extremely cautious when speculating on what happened," Anderlecht Mayor Gaetan Van Goidsenhoven told Belgian broadcaster RTBF. "The situation is extremely serious as someone has been killed."
The imam, 46, is thought to have died of smoke inhalation, police spokeswoman Marie Verbeke said.
The survivor was being treated for smoke inhalation, Verbeke said.
Van Goidsenhoven said people gathered outside of the mosque after the attack, but so far "things are quite calm."
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/03/13/Imam-killed-in-mosque-attack-in-Belgium/UPI-31991331640614/#ixzz1ra3UrhYy
Officials said a motive for the attack Monday at the religious facility in the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht was not known, CNN reported Tuesday.
"One must remain extremely cautious when speculating on what happened," Anderlecht Mayor Gaetan Van Goidsenhoven told Belgian broadcaster RTBF. "The situation is extremely serious as someone has been killed."
The imam, 46, is thought to have died of smoke inhalation, police spokeswoman Marie Verbeke said.
The survivor was being treated for smoke inhalation, Verbeke said.
Van Goidsenhoven said people gathered outside of the mosque after the attack, but so far "things are quite calm."
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/03/13/Imam-killed-in-mosque-attack-in-Belgium/UPI-31991331640614/#ixzz1ra3UrhYy
A mosque near Brussels was the target Monday evening of an arson attack in which the imam died, Belgian authorities said late Monday.
One man was arrested - a Muslim who said he was born in 1978 - in the attack on the mosque in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels, the Belgian capital, said Jean-Marc Meilleur, a spokesman for the Brussels Prosecutor's Office.
"It seemed that this person showed up and pulled out a knife and an ax, and that he spread flammable products - petrol we assume - in order to start a fire and threaten the mosque occupants," Meilleur said.
He said the man's name and age could not be verified, as he had no identification papers. He said the man had been locked in a room by worshippers at the mosque before authorities apprehended him.
Marie Verbeck, a police spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that no other people were being sought in connection with the attack.
One other person was lightly injured, Meilleur said. He said the attack took place between 6 and 7 p.m. local time.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw fire damage and people gathered outside the mosque, some of whom were praying.
Police said the man, detained after mosque personnel trapped him inside the building, apparently used fuel to set fire to the Rida mosque near Brussels’ international rail hub, killing 46-year-old father-of-four Abdallah Dadou.
The victim, who died of smoke inhalation, was described by worshipper Abdel Adouzeyneb, a 39-year-old real estate agent, as “a person who was loved by everybody — he was open, well integrated, smiling and happy.”
"It seemed that this person showed up and pulled out a knife and an ax, and that he spread flammable products - petrol we assume - in order to start a fire and threaten the mosque occupants," Meilleur said.
He said the man's name and age could not be verified, as he had no identification papers. He said the man had been locked in a room by worshippers at the mosque before authorities apprehended him.
Marie Verbeck, a police spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that no other people were being sought in connection with the attack.
One other person was lightly injured, Meilleur said. He said the attack took place between 6 and 7 p.m. local time.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw fire damage and people gathered outside the mosque, some of whom were praying.
Police said the man, detained after mosque personnel trapped him inside the building, apparently used fuel to set fire to the Rida mosque near Brussels’ international rail hub, killing 46-year-old father-of-four Abdallah Dadou.
The victim, who died of smoke inhalation, was described by worshipper Abdel Adouzeyneb, a 39-year-old real estate agent, as “a person who was loved by everybody — he was open, well integrated, smiling and happy.”
His killing was claimed by a small pro-Iranian group in Lebanon who accused him of being too moderate and of having rejected the death fatwa slapped on writer Salman Rushdie.
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