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Suspicious Arson Fire at Edinburgh Mosque as Hate Crimes in U.K. Increase
EDINBURGH, October 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Police and fire officers were investigating a suspicious fire at a mosque here Wednesday, news agencies reported.
Firefighters were called to the Pakistan Association Mosque and Community Center in Leith, Edinburgh, early Wednesday morning after a member of the public saw smoke coming from the building, the British paper
The Independent reported.
Officers confirmed they were treating the fire as suspicious, and forensic experts were expected to begin their investigation the same morning.
The fire damaged part of the prayer area of the mosque, situated on the ground floor of the building on the corner of East London Street and Annandale Street,
The Independent said.
Muhammed Islam, chairman of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland Pakistan Association, said it appeared a basement door had been forced open.
"It's obviously quite shocking and saddening. I was there myself last night when the fire brigade and police came," he said, quoted by
The Independent.
"There's quite a bit of damage, mainly to the ground floor, to the prayer area of the mosque.
"We are having a meeting there at 10:30am, and we hope to establish what happened; however it seems to have been caused deliberately."
Islam described relations with the local community as "very good".
He added that a Union flag, seen flowing from one of the first floor windows this morning, belonged to the association and appeared to have become dislodged from a wall inside the building during the fire.
Islam said the mosque was used by around 250-300 people for Friday prayers, but the hall above was in constant use for activities such as afterschool classes for around 80 children.
Inspector Dave Sturrock of Lothian and Borders police said the fire was being treated as suspicious.
"A passerby noticed smoke coming from one of the windows [of the building] and notified the fire brigade and police," Sturrock said.
"Circumstances indicate the fire is suspicious and inquiries are continuing," he added,
The Independent reported.
Andrew Ogden, 23, a sales administrator whose flat overlooks the Islamic center, said he became aware of the blaze at around 1:30 am.
"There were four fire engines and a couple of police," said Ogden. "You couldn't see flames, but we saw smoke coming out of the vents and some of the windows."
"When they opened the side doors, smoke came pouring out of there too," he added.
The backlash against Muslims in the U.K. started a few days after the September 11th attacks on the U.S., as a suspect fire broke out at a mosque in Bolton, northwestern England.
The "suspect" fire at the Alvia mosque on Bromwich Street in Bolton, Greater Manchester, left windows smashed and followed graffiti attacks at other mosques, BBC's online news service reported.
Police said then they were treating the fire as suspicious, and appealed for calm, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.
Bricks were thrown at mosques in Belfast, Manchester, south London and Southend, southeast England, AFP reported.
London's central mosque was evacuated after a bomb alert and women wearing the hijab, or traditional Islamic headscarf, have reported racial abuse, AFP added.
A brutal attack on an Afghan taxi driver in Twickenham was investigated by police as a hate crime targeted against Muslims, 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 assault left the man paralyzed from the neck down, AFP said.
A Muslim female teenager of Asian origin was also attacked in Swindon, Wiltshire police said.
The 19-year-old victim was treated in hospital after being repeatedly hit around the head with a baseball bat, the BBC reported.
Police in the U.K. have been warning they will not tolerate further "revenge attacks" on Afghans or Muslims after the rising wave of racist assaults.
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," he said.
"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."
Meanwhile, police in London said Wednesday they had been granted further time to question a Muslim man arrested earlier this week under anti-terrorist legislation, AFP reported.
The 43-year-old man was detained in north London on Monday, and an address was searched in southeast London.
Sources said he was arrested on alleged suspicion of supporting or inciting acts of terrorism abroad, although not in connection with any actual act.
Under the anti-terrorist legislation, he could only be questioned for 48 hours, but magistrates have extended the period until Thursday.
Another 24-year-old Muslim, arrested Monday as he went to board a Eurostar high-speed train at London's Waterloo station, also remains in custody, AFP said.
Sources said the arrest, again under British anti-terrorist legislation, was claimed to be in connection with travel documentation.
Over the weekend, Britain deported a 27-year-old Algerian man to France.
British police have carried out a spate of arrests of Muslims since the September 11th attacks in the United States, blamed by Washington on Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.
There are around two million Muslims in Britain, out of a total population of some 60 million.
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