Why can't Muslims build mosques?
Keston Institute (25.04.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (26.04.2002) - Email: info@hrwf.net - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Despite being recognised as one of Slovenia's 31 religious communities and having tens of thousands of adherents, the country's Muslim community has been unable to build a single mosque.
Muslim leader Mufti Osman Djogic complained to Keston News Service that for 30 years authorities in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana have blocked the building of an Islamic centre and that the current mosque is far too small, but the head of the government's Office for Religious Communities denied that there is any ban on the construction of mosques.
Slovenia's ombudsman, Matjaz Hanzek, complained to Keston of the "ping-pong of words" over the issue, which he believes is rooted in prejudice against Muslims. He declared that officials both at a national and local level lack the political will to solve the problem.
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