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. The mosque advocates the Salafi movement of Islam[1] and has often been in the focus of media for its alleged ties to radical Islamist groups[2]. The Bellevue Mosque currently receives about 25,000 SEK in government subsidies each year from the Gothenburg Municipality[1].
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].
Mirsad Bektašević, a Swedish citizen of Bosniak descent who in 2006 was convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on terrorism-related charges in Sarajevo, Bosnia, 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 Somali-based Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which is linked to al-Qaeda[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. (in Swedish)
- ^ a b c Wångersjö, Mats. "Terrormisstänkt utbildades i mosken", Göteborgs-Tidningen, 2005-11-23. Retrieved on 2007-01-02. (in Swedish)
- ^ Sydvik, Per. "Oroligt bland Göteborgs somalier", Göteborgs-Posten, 2006-12-27. Retrieved on 2007-01-02. (in Swedish)
