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Arson Attack on British Mosque as Anti-Muslim Violence Grips Europe
MANCHESTER, England, Sept 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The backlash against Muslims in the U.K. continues, as a suspicious fire broke out overnight at a mosque in Bolton, in northwestern England, news agencies reported Tuesday.
The fire at the Alvia mosque on Bromwich Street in Bolton, Greater Manchester, left windows smashed and follows graffiti attacks on other mosques, the BBC's online news service reported.
Police said they were treating the fire as suspicious, and appealed for calm, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
They said they were investigating whether the arson attack on the mosque was a retaliatory act against the Muslim community in U.K. following last week's terrorist attacks against the United States - blamed by Washington on Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, and "categorically" denied by him.
Bricks have been thrown at mosques in Belfast, Manchester, south London and Southend, AFP reported.
London's central mosque was evacuated after a bomb alert and women wearing the hijab, or traditional Islamic headscarf, reported incidents of racial abuse, AFP added.
Meanwhile, a brutal attack on an Afghan taxi driver in Twickenham was being investigated by police as a hate crime, the BBC reported.
The 28-year-old Afghan taxi driver was brutally attacked by three men, who made remarks about the U.S. attacks, the BBC added.
The assault left the man, who was in hospital Tuesday, paralyzed from the neck down, AFP said.
A Muslim female teenager of Asian origin was also attacked Friday in Swindon, Wiltshire police said. The 19-year-old victim was treated in hospital after being repeatedly hit on the head with a baseball bat.
Police in the U.K. are warning they will not tolerate further "revenge attacks" on Afghans or Muslims after these two serious racial assaults, the BBC said.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said officers were ready to prevent and deal with vigilante attacks.
"The Metropolitan Police is extremely mindful of the possibility of heightened community tension," said Stevens. "We are continuing to liaise with potentially vulnerable groups and community leaders to increase security where necessary.
"Racist abuse or harassment could potentially lead to disorder which wouldn't help anyone."
However, police were called to Manchester University after a Muslim student group tried to hand out leaflets on the campus.
Al-Muhajiroun, a student group in Manchester University, was banned following Tuesday's attacks on the U.S., for fear of gaining support at the university, the BBC said.
Some universities have stepped up security in order to protect Muslim students from increasing racial attacks.
There are around two million Muslims in Britain, out of a total population of some 60 million.
Meanwhile, the wave of increased anti-Muslim violence has notably spread out throughout Europe, with mosques and other Islamic centers being targeted.
Attacks were reported in The Netherlands, Denmark and Poland just days after the U.S. attacks.
In the Netherlands, a mosque and two classrooms at an Islamic school were set on fire in separate incidents, AFP reported.
The arson at the primary school in the southern town of Nijmegen forced classes to be cancelled Monday.
At Zwolle, in the east of the country, unidentified arsonists set fire to a mosque Saturday night, but damage was limited due to the quick intervention of emergency services.
A spokesman for the Muslim community in the Netherlands, who condemned last Tuesday's attacks on the United States, cautioned that they must not lead to innocent people becoming victims of racism.
In Copenhagen, Danish police arrested a man as he was hurling petrol bombs at a mosque in an apparent revenge attack, AFP reported.
The 28-year-old Dane, who has not been named, was sentenced to four weeks imprisonment following the incident at Dortheavej mosque, police said.
The Danish Extra Bladet daily also reported that 23 windows had been smashed Sunday at a pizzeria owned by Kurdish immigrants in the town of Dragoer, just outside the capital.
On Monday, Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft denounced the incidents as attempts to incite violence against Muslims and equate terrorism with Islam.
Meanwhile, a mosque in the northern Polish city of Gdansk was stoned by a group of youths, police said Monday, AFP reported.
The attackers, who fled before police arrived at the scene, smashed several windows late Friday at the mosque, which is attended regularly by about 40 Muslims, including 15 children studying religion.
Polish cardinal Jozef Glemp, speaking at a seminar in Warsaw on demographics, warned his audience Saturday of the "demographic vacuum" in Poland, which he said he feared would be filled by Muslims, AFP added.
The Roman Catholic prelate was quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza as saying that Poles "did not want another culture."
Poland's Muslim population amounts to several thousand. In Denmark, the figure is around 170,000, or three percent of the population - while in The Netherlands, the figure is 474,000 - also three percent of the country's population.
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