Islamic center of Belgium wants to retain control over Great Mosque

Islamic center of Belgium wants to retain control over Great Mosque

The Islamic and Cultural Center of Belgium (CICB) contests before the State Council the decision of Interior Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) to cancel the concession agreement for the Great Mosque of Brussels, Sudpresse newspapers report Thursday. The oral arguments were held Wednesday concerning a decision made last March by Minister Jambon, as head of the Buildings Agency.

This decision plans to cancel the concession agreement, signed in 1969, following recommendations made by the parliamentary inquiry commission on the Brussels attacks. The commission believes that the Great Mosque and the CICB “were spreading Wahhabi Salafism, a trend that can play a key role in radicalism and violent radicalism.”

But the CICB thinks that it is not a motive in itself, since “no link has been established between the 22 March attacks and the Great Mosque.” “No one has ever proven that the Great Mosque had any direct, or even indirect, connection with the attacks. All that was just talk,” the new CIBC Director, Tamer Abou El Saoud, sums up.

The government wants to give the management of the place of worship to a body duly recognized by the Muslim Executive of Belgium.

The decision rests with the State Council that will settle the question within 3 to 4 weeks.

The Brussels Times


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