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February 18, 2007

UK: Giant London Mosque May Be Blocked By Government

The extremist organization Tablighi Jamaat has been planning to build a super-mosque in the borough of Newham, east London. The plans first came to light in November 26, when the Sunday Times reported that the Borough Council for Newham had already given provisional approval for the construction of the "London Markaz", designed by architect Ali Mangera of Mangera Yvars Architects, which is based in Barcelona and London.

The "London Markaz" was designed to be three storeys high, capable of holding up to 70,000 people, and the Tablighi Jamaat had hoped that the mosque would be open in time for the London 2012 Olympics. The estimated $180 million construction costs were expected to come from Britain and abroad. The "abroad" would almost certainly mean Saudi Arabia.

In September last year, it was revealed that a campaign had been mounted by local Muslims who opposed the presence of the super-mosque. 2,500 had signed the petition, and that figure is now standing at 3,000.

In November 2006 Conservative MP Michael Gove asked questions in parliament about the super-mosque.

Gove said: "An even more profound concern arises in connection with the plans, in east London, for the erection of the largest mosque—indeed, the largest house of worship—in the country. It is intended to accommodate between 40,000 and 70,000 worshippers, and it is estimated that it will cost between £100 million and £300 million. The mosque, which is being built by an organisation called Tablighi Jamaat, raises profound concerns, not least because that organisation has been described by French intelligence as an “antechamber of fundamentalism”. Two of the 7/7 bombers had direct links with the Tablighi Jamaat mosque in Dewsbury. Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber, had links with the organisation, as did John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban. How can an organisation that, according to the Charity Commission, records an income of just £500,000 a year, afford to build a mosque that will cost anything between £100 million and £300 million?"

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the charitable trust which operates on behalf of Tablighi Jamaat is Anjuman ul-Muslimeen, no 262392. While searching the records of the Charity Commission, it is surprising how many "charities" are registered, whose main purpose is the "advancement of Islam". Should such activities benefit from charity status?

The headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat is the Markaz in Savile Town, Dewsbury, and it is associated with extremist outlooks. Funded by Saudi money, it has a school attached to it. This school was criticized by UK government schools inspectors as less a place of learning and more of a "madrassa". The report by Ofsted claimed that the school's "over-emphasis" on religion meant secular studies were neglected. It wrote: "Teachers showed limited understanding of pupils aptitudes, needs and prior attainments."

Today, the Sunday Telegraph reports that a senior source within government has suggested that the planned super-mosque at the 18-acre Abbey Mill site in Newham will almost certainly be blocked by the government. The source said: "We are going to stop it."

The London Thames Gateway Unitary Development Corporation is thought to have supported the construction of the mosque, and this group answers directly to the supporter of Islamism, Ken Livingstone, who is mayor of London.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at February 18, 2007 4:24 PM

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Posted by: Catawhumpus at February 19, 2007 8:27 AM

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