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Italian MPs plan control of new mosques

Italian MPs plan control of new mosques

Author: Sophie Arie in Rome
Publication: The Guardian
Date: March 25, 2004

Members of Silvio Berlusconi's coalition government have proposed a law to control the building of mosques in Italy because they can be used to "spread hatred for the West".

Under the law, requests to build or open mosques and their method of finance would be assessed by local authorities and put to a local referendum.

Federico Bricolo of the Northern League, a key member of Mr Berlusconi's coalition, outlined the proposals yesterday.

He said that mosques in Italy "aren't simple places of prayer" but sometimes serve as "centres of recruitment for terrorists and for propagation of hatred for the West". The proposal comes amid growing fears that Islamic terrorists are plotting attacks in Europe.

"The Madrid attacks show how dangerous Islamic terrorism is, which we have to deal with in our house, too," Mr Bricolo said.

The presence of "foreign workers on our territory has opened a debate on how to update, or, better, to regulate the presence of communities with cultures historically antithetical to ours", the proposal states.

"The mosque is a political place and is symbolic of a civilisation that has run a 1,400-year long path in antithesis of Western culture."

There are an estimated 1 million Muslims living in Italy, making the Muslim faith the second largest religion in the country, but it is not officially recognised. Unlike Catholics, Jews and Protestants, as well as a handful of smaller religious groups, the Muslim community has not signed a formal agreement with the Italian state which would give them public and political recognition and a share of a national "religion tax".

Many Muslim immigrants live on the fringes of Italian society. The largest communities are focused around northern cities such as Milan, where the Northern League has its stronghold.

It is also where the majority of suspected Islamic terrorist cells have been investigated and several imams have been arrested for preaching religious hatred in recent years. In 2001, the US treasury department labelled Milan's main mosque and cultural centre as "the main al-Qaida station house in Europe".
 


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