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| Europe | |
| Athens set to build its first mosque | |
| 2003-07-13 | |
Muslims living in and around the Greek capital are due at long last to get their first mosque — but in this overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian country the question of exactly where to put it has become a political football. Athenian Muslims, who include immigrants from nearby Albania and elsewhere in the Balkans but also considerable numbers of Nigerians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Indians and Sudanese, were first promised a formal place of worship over 20 years ago. But it has only been with the approach of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, to be hosted by the Greek capital, that the idea has moved to the top of the agenda. Although the sites for the Games will have their own worship facilities for different religions, the government would certainly like to boost its credentials with Muslim countries by opening the mosque while the world spotlight is on Athens. The promoters of the project, which is being funded by Saudi Arabia, are therefore hoping that the Games will provided the needed impetus to get the building up, but the mayor of the suburb selected has in effect declared that he doesn't want it in his backyard.
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| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #8 the Islamists' ... anti-EU vitriol I think the Islamists have a found a good friend in Chiraq, et al. Why should they be anti-EU? |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-7-13 10:10:46 PM |
| #7 I believe it would go nicely on the Santorini Mountain range to complement the ancient Minoan Society. |
| Posted by: Rick 2003-7-13 9:28:02 PM |
| #6 Rafael> That's okay, the Islamists' (and all religious fanatics' and other bigots') anti-EU vitriol complements nicely with the anti-EU attitude of, say, people like... you??? |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2003-7-13 9:02:32 PM |
| #5 Hold on guys... but don't you think that the anti-American vitriol coming out of this mosque would complement nicely the anti-American attitude of say people like... Aris??? (just an example, Aris isn't really anti-American... well sometimes he is, but not mostly... on his bad days he might be) |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-7-13 4:56:54 PM |
| #4 Let me see if I can help them with the location: start at the Parthenon. Draw a line directly to the beach. Keep going past the beach about ten kilometers straight out on that line. Stop there, that's where the mosque goes. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-7-13 4:50:40 PM |
| #3 Late breaking news! Muslim scholars have determined that the Prophet once masturbated at the site of the Parthenon while daydreaming of Ayesha, the 6-year old temptress. Thus, the Parthenon has become the 6th most sacred site in all of Islam. Plans for the clearance of some old Greek rubble from the site to allow construction of a Mosque are underway. The bid has been awarded to the Binladen Group, a Saudi construction firm. |
| Posted by: Hodadenon 2003-7-13 12:12:39 PM |
| #2 Smart military strategy by the ROP to setup their bases in target rich environments ahead of time. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-7-13 10:49:55 AM |
| #1 funded by Saudi Arabia Of course. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-7-13 7:30:20 AM |