Imam Dies Inside Brussels Mosque After Firebomb Attack by Alleged Axe-Wielding ‘Salafist’ Arsonist
- Posted on March 13, 2012 at 7:29am by
Billy Hallowell
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Women react outside of a Shi'ite mosque in Brussels on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. Local media late Monday evening reported that an arson attack took place at the mosque and that the local Imam died of suffocation in a room inside. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
BRUSSELS (The Blaze/AP) — A mosque near Brussels was the target Monday evening of an arson attack in which the imam died, Belgian authorities said late Monday.
One man was arrested — a Muslim who said he was born in 1978 — in the attack on the mosque in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels, the Belgian capital, said Jean-Marc Meilleur, a spokesman for the Brussels Prosecutor’s Office. AFP has more about the alleged radical:
Azzedine Laghmich, an official at the mosque, told AFP the attacker was “a Salafist,” who sprayed petrol inside the mosque before setting it alight and shouting Sunni slogans on his way out — cries related to the conflict in Syria.
“All the eyewitness accounts said so,” Laghmich added.
Isabelle Praile, another senior official in Belgium’s organised Muslim community, said the Rida mosque “had already been placed under police protection several years ago,” citing direct threats from members of the ultra-conservative Salafist movement.
“It seemed that this person showed up and pulled out a knife and an ax, and that he spread flammable products — petrol we assume — in order to start a fire and threaten the mosque occupants,” Meilleur said.
According to the Telegraph, the Rida Shiite mosque was one of the largest in the Belgian capital. The attack has practically destroyed the entire building.
“Worshipers were waiting to pray when someone entered with a bag filled with fuel, an eyewitness told a local state broadcaster, according to the BBC. He then flung the bag into the center of the room,” MSNBC reported.
He said the man’s name and age could not be verified, as he had no identification papers. He said the man had been locked in a room by worshippers at the mosque before authorities apprehended him.
Marie Verbeck, a police spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that no other people were being sought in connection with the attack.
One other person was lightly injured, Meilleur said. He said the attack took place between 6 and 7 p.m. local time.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw fire damage and people gathered outside the mosque, some of whom were praying.
Le Soir newspaper said the imam, whom it reported to be 47 years old, died trying to put out the fire. Verbeck said she did not have the name of the imam.
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Comments (57)
dutchy
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 1:34pmIt’s a good time to build a peaceful church on the site!
Report Post »pavepaws
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 2:41pmMuslim on Muslim violence. No peace even within the religion.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 3:33pmUnless Europeans desire their lands to become muslim, they will outlaw Islam, close down the mosques (garrisons), and deport all the muslims.
It will have to be done sooner or later. The War Against The Muslims is quickly approaching.
Report Post »TantoRocks
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 12:19pmMy friend Jack just wrote about the most significant event ever in the understanding of Islam; a Muslim journalist presented Fox with a copy of a different version of the Qur’an that uses violent passages that Muslims in America deny.
If this gains traction, it will shake the Muslim world http://mywtfblog.com/2012/03/how-many-quran-versions/
The Qur’an is supposed to be the word-by-word transcription of Allah’s words to Muhammad. The fact that Saudi publishers are printing varied versions for different audiences is news that the world has to understand
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 12:32pmAnd… the King James Bible translates… Most Crimes, alike Poisoning… to Witches & WitchCraft… then he went about accusing those who disagreed with him as Witches… and had them Burnt at the Stake!
Report Post »MDDAWG
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 1:17pmWow! Muslin on muslim violence. Any surprise here?
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 3:36pmThe only “official” Korans are written in Arabic.
The dawa versions are DECEPTION.
If it is coming from a muslim, it is deception.
Report Post »jaylew
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 5:59pmAll versions of it are idiotic nonsense.
Report Post »signed,
Salman Rushdie
thegreatcarnac
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 11:23amThe hate between the Shiites and the Sunnis is real and almost as old as Islam itself. This is a crack in the bulwarks of Islam. We should be actively attempting to wedge that crack open and this will cause other fissures. Islam will break down like a landslide one day. Islam is not unbeatable nor is it inevitable. It can be defeated.
Report Post »1TrueOne55
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 1:10pmAnd how is that going to work on a spiritual level. Christianity had a split and it continues today, it is why Non-“Catholic” religious denominations are called “Protestant” for that reason. They even fight about it in Ireland with deadly consequences.
So I do agree that if that crack would widen it could create chaos but it could also create what you don’t want and that is to join them together for a single cause. Islam is looking for their 12th Imam and they all believe in this person like Christianity believes in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Which is another religion that has cracks in it, they all have it and they all survive it.
Report Post »Hickory
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 11:04amThe jackals are turning on each other. Muslims only understand how to kill. If no one else is available, they will kill each other. That’s ok, it saves us bullets.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 10:45amMay i please have extra butter on my popcorn….. Thank you .
Report Post »FRED BEAR
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 2:08pmnice
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 3:47pmPlease pass the whoppers
Report Post »mymissusisanutter
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 10:43amSo I guess Andy Breitbart is fair game for the liberals? It‘s okay that they are glad he’s burning in hell?
You folks jumping for joy over this are no better than the liberals who jumped for joy when Breitbart died.
Jesus said “Love your enemies.”
Then again the Bible is full of inconvenient truths that many Christians don’t want to believe.
He who cries out “Raca!” is in clear danger of being consumed by the fires of hell.
Hate is murder in the heart, so says Jesus. So how many murders have you committed in your heart?
No wonder why people tend to have bad feelings towards conservatives, all you have to do is read some of these comments. Sickening.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 1:10pmI’m not happy about an Iman trying to save his church and dies trying. No one here knows what his politics were and if he was a peacefull person or not, so why the rush without information to be so nasty about his death? Have we really come that far, that we instantly condem someone without all the facts? No, I don’t trust all Muslims, but I try to juge the actions and words of a person, before I jump in and say they are all bad. We sometimes sound like a lynch mob, and that is kind of scarey.
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 3:45pmI will pitch in for some more petrol if they are running low. Doing my part and all. Sorry to hear about your missus and all, 0 feels and shares your pain-he married Patrick Ewing in drag after all. Carry on with the holier than thou thingy.
Report Post »Attila_the_Hunney
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 11:09pmAfter reading your idiocy, I understand why your missus is a nutter. Please shut up.
Report Post »Glock31
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 10:30amsweet!
Report Post »term limits for congress
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 10:29amCan‘t wait to hear BHO’s apology for this!
Report Post »Godfather.1
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 10:21amIt’s very revealing that all you “Christian” Blazers are cheering this person’s death.
Report Post »jaylew
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 5:57pmWho’s cheering? You mean cheering like the savages we see on the news every night screeching Allah Akbar and “Death To America” and yada yada and blah blah blah? You mean that kind of cheering? The gist of the thread’s tone here is pretty simple actually…..Islam is perhaps the most violent uncivilized force on the planet right now…..the knuckleheads rip each other apart if there isn’t some “infidel” somewhere to rend asunder. Nobody is cheering here….a better word might be laughing. Laughing at the stupidity of the entire Islamic folly. It’s centuries old blood lust and sword wielding dysfunction….it is the religion of the miserable and broke…excepting the Saudi billionaires who keep trying to fund Islamic dysfunction ad nauseum into perpetuity.
Report Post »B-Neil
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:51amDid they turn him over to make sure he was done on both sides??? Its mind boggling, all us infidels and they still plot and plan to kill each other. They need to take those rags off there heads to let there brains breath. GOD BLESS AMERICA and INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
Report Post »Moe1138
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:48amWow, they’re just like Democrats…give them enough time and they’ll attack each other.
Report Post »My advice…grab a comfortable chair, sit back and watch it happen
Mr.Fitnah
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:38amGood.
Report Post »BubbaCoop
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:10amedited
Report Post »PhillyPauly
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:04amthere must have been a typo in the headline – First time I read it I feared David Bowie’s wife, former supermodel, Iman was blown up.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 12:14pmGood one!
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:57amWhere is ROSE-ELLEN on this? I am really looking forward to reading her pack of excuses. I could use a laugh this morning.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:59amDon’t hold your breath. There is only one mid-east country trying to help the civilians in Syria right now…Israel. I guess Islam will put it’s hand out, but only when it’s empty.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:05amDuh – that last post should have been attached the one below this.
Report Post »wboehmer
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:54amI’m still waiting for news of something good & positive that islam is doing in the world. Sorry, but until then, it stays on the negative, murderous, evil side of the balance sheet.
Report Post »poorrichard09
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:00amHey wait-after the tornadoes last week didn’t you read about how the islamic relief society and the atheist assistance league came in to deliver aid??
Report Post »Me neither.
MammalOne
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 9:26amThere are plenty of examples, you’re just on the wrong website. Unless it’s a self-victimizing story about how chrisitans are under attack from [insert any given group here], you won’t find it on the Blaze.
Report Post »wboehmer
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 10:34am“MammalOne” – For someone claiming “plenty of examples,” it is strange that you pass up the perfect opportunity & do not cite even a single one.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 3:39pmStop waiting.
We all need to stop waiting for the “moderate” muslims. They do not exist. It is all lies, all deception, all the time. For one purpose: to spread Islam, in the way of Mohammed, in praise of their deity, Allah, enshrined in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
If there ever was a candidate for for evil incarnate, it is Islam.
Report Post »disenlightened
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:21amIslam is no different today than when a small group of murderous thieves invented it in the 600′s to puff up their status. The religion has been spilling blood since it’s birth and is a cancer on the civilized world.
Report Post »Attila_the_Hunney
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 10:58pmGawd, you are stupid.
Report Post »Attila_the_Hunney
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 11:14pmSorry DIS– misread your post– I agree with you.
Report Post »bigfatslob
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:20amIts refreshing to finally get some good news.
Report Post »mikee1
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:17amMillions more IMAMS will die soon. THE NEO-SATANIST, SOFT-COMMUNIST, AMERICAN LIBERAL is a lower form of life than any IMAM.
Report Post »poorrichard09
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:04amLooking at the bold headline, I thought Don Imus (the Iman) was killed-or maybe the fashion model. Better change that to Imam.
Report Post »Joking aside, yes another example of how barbaric these people are.
Shamrock241
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 7:58amI just can’t see a downside to this story!!!!!!!!
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:22ami’m with you
Report Post »Tandem2011
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 7:48amLive by the sword – die by the sword. The Muslim culture is one of phony “honor” and revenge. The news headlines of the world trumpet that message every day. Allah’s message about brotherhood and peace (to the extent that it exists) has apparently never gotten out to His believers.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 7:37am.
Report Post »One down a billion +/- to go………….
randy
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:58amThe attack has practically destroyed the entire building.
My thoughts exactly……
Report Post »I’m always hopping to wake up to old Georgie boy has passed away.
Until then, this will do.
Gonzo
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 7:37amGo ahead, eat your own Islam.
Report Post »BrerRabbit
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 7:32amThey’re eating their own. May it continue.
Report Post »