Mosque set on fire in Netherlands


Mosque set on fire in Netherlands
Inside the burnt-out mosque in Helden
Police said the mosque was too badly damaged to be usable
A fire has badly damaged a mosque in the Netherlands, in what may be the latest in a series of arson attacks.

Police said the small wooden mosque, in the south-eastern village of Helden, near the German border, had caught light early on Saturday.


They said it was not immediately clear if arsonists were behind the attack.

There have been more than 20 incidents of fires or vandalism at Muslim buildings since the murder of the controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

Tensions high

There has also been a string of retaliatory attacks on Christian churches.

A police spokeswoman in Helden said the mosque was now unusable as most of it had burnt down. No-one was hurt in the fire.

Investigators are working to establish the cause of the blaze, which started at about 0600 (0500 GMT).

"We are seriously taking into account the possibility it was arson," the spokeswoman said.

The fire may cast a shadow over Eid celebrations marking the end of Ramadan for Helden's Muslim population.

Tensions have been running high in the Netherlands since Van Gogh's death on 2 November.


His suspected killer, an alleged Muslim radical of Dutch-Moroccan nationality, has been arrested.
Nation mourns

As the Netherlands mourned film-maker Theo van Gogh – allegedly killed by an Islamic militant – Dutch people told Andy Clark of Radio Netherlands how they felt about his death and the country's heightened ethnic tensions.

Since he died there have been attacks on Muslim sites and Protestant churches - in a nation that prides itself on its tolerance.
The Dutch parliament has been debating how to deal with deteriorating relations between Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

Grim atmosphere
Eric Hulscher, 39, taxi driver

"The atmosphere is grim after the murder. You feel strange, especially having seen that attacks [on mosques and an Islamic school] have now taken place.

"It will only get worse, all the talk about integration is a lot of nonsense.

"There's been talk of 'us' and 'them' and that's absolutely right."

There have been calls from some right-wing politicians to deport radical Muslim clerics and close down mosques where they operate.

MPs have asked the government to draft new legislation forcing Dutch mosques to employ only imams who have studied Islamic religion in the Netherlands. The proposal has attracted wide support.

To go back to Frontpage