Bellevue Mosque
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The Islamic Sunni Centre (Swedish: Islamiska sunnicentret), commonly known as the Bellevue Mosque (Swedish: Bellevuemoskén), is a mosque located at Generalsgatan 2A in the Bellevue-district of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is the city's largest Islamic place of worship and advocates the Salafi movement of Islam.[1] The mosque receives about 25,000 SEK in government subsidies each year from Gothenburg Municipality.[1]
The Bellevue Mosque has been in the focus of media for its alleged ties to radical Islamist groups.[2] The Bellevue Mosque has been accused of having financial ties to the al-Haramain Foundation[3], a Saudi-based charity group which has been listed on the United Nations list of "entities belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda". Representatives from the foundation are also said to have visited the mosque at several occasions.[3]
According to newspaper reports, Mirsad Bektašević, the Swedish citizen of Bosniak descent who was convicted in Sarajevo in 2006 and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment on charges to commit terrorism, was a frequent attendee of the Bellevue Mosque.[3]
Recently it has also been reported that the mosque has been used to collect money for the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), the Islamist militia in Somalia.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Bergsten, Henrik (2006-04-25). Så motarbetas integrationen i Sverige (Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
- ^ Lisinski, Stefan. "Säpo utreder medhjälp till terrorbrott", Dagens Nyheter, 2005-11-11. Retrieved on 2007-01-02. (Swedish)
- ^ a b c Wångersjö, Mats. "Terrormisstänkt utbildades i mosken", Göteborgs-Tidningen, 2005-11-23. Retrieved on 2007-01-02. (Swedish)
- ^ Sydvik, Per. "Oroligt bland Göteborgs somalier", Göteborgs-Posten, 2006-12-27. Retrieved on 2007-01-02. (Swedish)
