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December 21, 2005

US: Ohio Mosque Bombing

Yesterday, Tuesday, a bomb exploded outside the main door of the Islamic Association of Cincinnati Mosque on Clifton Avenue. The building, also known as the Clifton Mosque, had closed when evening prayers had ended at 8 pm, and the attack at 10 m did not cause any injuries, stated the Enquirer. There were no witnesses.

The Islamic Association has a mosque and a two storey house, and the expplosion happened outside a door at the house, which had formerly been the place of worship before the new mosque was opened two years ago.

There was some confusion in reporting, so a news conference was held at 11 am today, stated wcpo. There were two bombs, not one.

"One of the explosions blasted a hole through the ceiling and the roof of the porch and then struck the soffit then blew out the glass," Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher said.

A few minutes after the first pipe bomb, a second went off, causing no damage. So far no group has claimed responsiblity for the attack.

The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in the case, joining Cincinnati and State Highway Patrol state investigators, stated USA Today earlier.

Another Cincinnati mosque, the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati in West Chester, has had security stepped up, state Channel Cincinnati and wcpo. Police in West Chester have said they are in constant communication with investigators at Clifton. Detectives also say that they have had a "close eye" on the West Chester facility since the 2001 9/11 attacks.

WCHSTV states that civic and religious leaders have all condemned the bomb attack, with the mayor of Cincinnati calling it a "despicable act". ONN news quoted mayor Mark Mallory as saying: "From a community standpoint, we need to make it clear that this type of criminal activity will not be tolerated."

Karen Dabdoub, spokeswoman for the Ohio office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said attacks like Tuesday's have plagued mosques since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"These types of incidents often are following a lot of negative and hateful rhetoric we hear, often about the Muslim community and Islam in general. This kind of crime is an act of hate that is intended to divide our community along religious lines," Dabdoub said.

She also said that there had been good relations between the mosque and the community. "This is totally out of the blue. It's very disturbing" she said.

Religious leaders from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities joined the mayor in what he described as "solidarity".

Ms Dabdoud of CAIR claims about 300 to 500 people worship at the Clifton mosque on a typical Friday.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 21, 2005 5:57 PM

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