The New York Times - USA (2020-11-15)

14 0 N THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONALSUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020

ATHENS — The mosque that

took more than a century to open,

surviving legal, political and fi-

nancial challenges, has closed in

less than a week, a temporary vic-

tim of the coronavirus pandemic.

Athens, the Greek capital, had

not had a dedicated, purpose-built

Muslim place of worship since the

expulsion of Ottoman forces in

1833, a gap that officials have long

sought to fill. The first act of Par-

liament aimed at opening a

mosque came in 1890, an effort

that intensified in recent decades

as the Muslim community has

grown, now praying in dozens of

unpermitted, makeshift venues

like basements, garages and park-

ing lots.

In the face of objections from

the powerful Orthodox Church,

and from nationalists who associ-

ate Islam with foreign occupation,

plans repeatedly came to nothing

over the years, leaving Athens as

virtually the only European Union

capital without a purpose-built

place of worship for Muslims.

But in 2006 Parliament ap-

proved construction of a fully

state-funded, state-run mosque in

Athens — the only such one in the

European Union, Greek officials

say. The opening, initially sched-

uled for 2010, finally arrived early

this month after the project sur-

mounted a mountain of red tape

and legal challenges.

With coronavirus spiking,

though, restrictions immediately

limited a building designed for

around 350 worshipers to only 13

at a time. Then, the day after the

mosque’s first Friday Prayer,

Greece returned to a national

lockdown, forcing it to shut com-

pletely for now.

The closing heightened the bit-

tersweet feelings many Muslims

already had about the state-

funded mosque — a squat white

building, conspicuously free of

minarets, set on a sprawling for-

mer naval base in an industrial

district near downtown Athens.

Its 4.2-acre grounds include a

park with a fountain and a play-

ground.

“My feelings are split in two,”

Mohammed Zaki, the mosque’s

55-year-old imam, said in the

courtyard before an early-after-

noon call to prayer on the day the

new lockdown was announced.

“On the one hand I feel incredible

relief and happiness — finally we

have a mosque we can pray in.”

But his joy, he said, was tem-

pered both by the Covid-related

restrictions and the fact that doz-

ens of makeshift mosques in the

capital were now likely to close.

“It’s a huge problem,” Mr. Zaki

said. “We are not 10 or 20 people,”

he said, referring to more than

100,000 Muslims from countries

including Pakistan, Syria, Bangla-

desh and Afghanistan who live in

Athens. “Where will all these peo-

ple go?”

“I hurt for those who come to

pray and are turned away,” he

added.

Around 70 venues currently op-

erate as unofficial prayer sites,

many without fire-safety certifi-

cates. Though 10 of those venues

have secured permits to continue

operating, the remainder must ei-

ther obtain permits or close, the

government says.

Among those now permitted is

the Greek-Arab Educational and

Cultural Center, which opened in

2007 in a former textiles factory in

a southern suburb with funding

from a Saudi businessman.

The Greek government consid-

ers the Athens mosque to be a pio-

neering project.

“It’s a very sensitive experi-

ment as we’re trying to make sure

that all Muslims have a say in the

running of the mosque without

any countries getting involved,”

said George Kalantzis, the general

secretary of the Education and

Religious Affairs Ministry.

The aim was to have the

mosque under state control, Mr.

Kalantzis said, adding that a site

overseen by the state was less

likely to become a breeding

ground for radicalism.

Some Muslims say the new

mosque signals a welcome shift in

Greek attitudes.

Muhammad Shabir Dhama, a

60-year-old restaurant owner

from Pakistan, was positively

beaming when interviewed on the

mosque’s grounds on the day the

lockdown was announced.

“I have no words,” he said,

wearing prayer robes, a face mask

and protective shoe coverings.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to

the Greek government and to ev-

eryone who helped make this hap-

pen.”

“Things have changed,” added

Ehab El Sayed, who sits on the

mosque’s managing board.

“Greeks didn’t know what Islam

was. They used to equate it with

extremism and fanaticism.

They’ve realized that Islam is an-

other strong, large religion, like

Judaism and Christianity.”

Not all Athens Muslims are sat-

isfied, however.

The head of the Muslim Associ-

ation of Greece, Naim Elghan-

dour, said the mosque’s small size

and architecture are an affront. “It

looks like a warehouse or an over-

sized kiosk,” he said. He also took

issue with lettering on the build-

ing saying “Education and Reli-

gious Affairs Ministry.”

“They’re saying, ‘Muslim,

you’re not equal,’ showing them

it’s controlled by the state,” he

said.

Mr. Elghandour had run a large

unofficial mosque in the nearby

port of Piraeus for decades, which

was among those that closed re-

cently. He said shutting such ven-

ues could mean potential radical-

ism went unchecked. “It danger-

ous to close down mosques that

are monitored by police as people

will gather to pray in other areas.”

Dunja Mijatovic, the commis-

sioner for human rights at the

Council of Europe, a body that

seeks to safeguard rights across

the continent, welcomed the

mosque’s opening.

“Moves like this are not only im-

portant signs of the respect of reli-

gious minorities, but also signifi-

cant contributions to more inclu-

sive societies,” Ms. Mijatovic said.

“Building bridges is much needed

today as extremism and attacks

against freedom of thought, con-

science and religion are unfortu-

nately on the rise in Europe.”

Opposition to the mosque,

chiefly from far-right groups and

residents, has eased. The ex-

treme-right Golden Dawn party

had led protests in recent years

but its own popularity has waned

after the conviction of party lead-

ers last month in a landmark crim-

inal trial.

Still, residents have raised com-

plaints. Ekaterini Pantelidou, an

Athens-based lawyer who repre-

sents one group of residents, said

they aimed to go to the European

Court of Justice, saying that an-

cient ruins are under the site and

that a church was torn down to ac-

commodate the mosque. Officials

dismiss such claims.

“It is a site that was always Or-

thodox Christian, since ancient

times,” Ms. Pantelidou said. “Can

we build a Parthenon in Mecca?”

For many Muslims, the mosque

is but a first step.

“It is a good start. But there are

other things we need to do,” Mr. El

Sayed, from the mosque’s manag-

ing board, said, citing discussions

about a Muslim cemetery. Athens-

based Muslims must currently

transport their dead to a cemetery

in Thrace, northern Greece,

where the country’s Muslim mi-

nority is concentrated.

Long-Awaited Mosque Briefly Opens as Restrictions Return

Muslims praying at the first official mosque in Athens. Coronavirus restrictions quickly cut the number of worshipers permitted.

LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

The mosque accommodates around 350 people, though the Muslim community is far larger.

ARIS MESSINIS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
(Reuters) — At least three rockets
were fired at Eritrea’s capital from
Ethiopia on Saturday night, five
regional diplomats said, a major
escalation of a conflict pitting
Ethiopian government troops
against rebel forces in the Tigray
region.
At least two of the rockets hit
the Asmara airport, three diplo-
mats said. With most communica-
tions down in Tigray and Eritrea,
the strikes could not independ-
ently confirmed. Officials on both
sides could not be reached.
Tigray’s leader, Debretsion Ge-
bremichael, said on Tuesday that
Eritrea had sent troops over the
border in support of Prime Min-
ister Abiy Ahmed’s government
but provided no evidence.
Eritrea’s foreign minister, Os-
man Saleh Mohammed, denied
this at the time, saying: “We are
not part of the conflict.”
Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a
peace deal two years ago, but
President Isaias Afwerki’s gov-

ernment in Asmara has remained

hostile to the Tigray leadership

over its role in the border war of

1998-2000.

Earlier on Saturday, Tigray’s

ruling party, the Tigray People’s

Liberation Front, or T.P.L.F.,

threatened to attack Eritrean tar-

gets.

“We will launch a missile attack

to foil any military movement in

Asmara and Massawa,” Getachew

Reda, a spokesman for the

T.P.L.F., told a local television sta-

tion. Massawa is an Eritrean port

on the Red Sea.

Abiy launched a military cam-

paign against Tigray’s leaders last

week, after accusing them of at-

tacking federal troops based in the

northern region that borders Eri-

trea and Sudan.

The fighting has killed hun-

dreds of people on both sides, sent

thousands of civilians fleeing into

Sudan, and raised fears that it

could destabilize other parts of

Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Af-

rica region.

Several refugees arriving in the

Sudanese border town of Ham-

dayat told Reuters that their areas

in Ethiopia had been shelled from

Eritrea.

“We were shelled by artillery

volleys from across the Eritrean

border,” said Naksiam Guru, a 22-

year refugee who lives near the

border. “I saw people dying in the

streets.”

Hamdayat is home to a camp

hosting 8,000 refugees. Several

hundred arrived on Saturday

morning, some crossing a border

river in boats, some swimming or

wading through the water.

Late on Friday, rockets were

fired at two airports in Ethiopia’s

Amhara state, which has sent

troops into Tigray in support of

Abiy, in what the T.P.L.F. said was

retaliation for government air

strikes against their region.

The airport in Gondar was hit,

while another rocket aimed at the

Bahir Dar airport missed its tar-

get, the state government said.

Rockets Are Fired in Ethiopia as Conflict Widens

Ethiopians fleeing the Tigray region have taken refuge in a Sudanese border camp near El-Gadarif.

EBRAHIM HAMID/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

CAIRO — The leader of a pro-in-
dependence group in Western Sa-
hara declared war Saturday on
Morocco, shattering a three-dec-
ade-long cease-fire and threat-
ening a full-blown military conflict
in the disputed desert territory in
northwest Africa.
The announcement came a day
after Morocco launched a military
operation in a United Nations-pa-
trolled buffer zone after having
accused the pro-independence
group, the Polisario Front, of
blocking access to neighboring
Mauritania.
The eruption of hostilities in

Western Sahara adds to the insta-

bility roiling some of Africa’s big-

gest countries, with a protracted

war in Libya, long-simmering in-

surgency in Mali and the threat of

a civil war in Ethiopia.

On Friday, Morocco said it had

put up a “security cordon” on a

key road connecting the country

to Mauritania, which the Polisario

considers illegal because the inde-

pendence group says it was built

in breach of the 1991 United Na-

tions-brokered truce.

Both sides said late on Friday

that they had exchanged fire but

did not confirm any deaths or inju-

ries.

The Polisario Front accused

Morocco of having shot at peace-

ful protesters whom the inde-

pendence group said had been

demonstrating against what it

called the plunder of resources

from the Sahrawi, the people who

live in Western Sahara — all under

the watch of the U.N. peacekeep-

ing mission in the disputed terri-

tory.

The secretary general of the

Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, is-

sued a decree announcing the “re-

sumption of armed struggle in de-

fense of the legitimate rights of

our people.”

There was no immediate re-

sponse from the Moroccan au-

thorities on the announcement.

The decision to end the commit-

ment to a cease-fire, which had de-

fined the conflict for decades, now

threatens to uncap the long-fes-

tering tension between the Moroc-

can kingdom and the liberation

movement.

Western Sahara, a sparsely

populated territory, was occupied

by Morocco in 1975 after the Span-

ish colonial authorities withdrew.

The Polisario, a socialist guerrilla

movement formed in 1973, waged

a war for independence and estab-

lished the self-declared Sahrawi

Arab Democratic Republic that

received recognition from entities

including the African Union.

The United Nations helped me-

diate a truce in 1991, with the un-

derstanding that a referendum

would be held to decide whether

the people of Western Sahara

would choose independence or in-

tegration with Morocco. That ref-

erendum has yet to take place,

mostly because the two sides can-

not settle on who makes up the In-

digenous people of the territory

and should therefore be permitted

to participate in the vote.

The conflict has left Morocco

controlling about 80 percent of the

disputed territory, leaving thou-

sands of Sahrawis living in a pro-

tracted displacement situation

near the Algerian town of Tindouf.

For years, the talks between the

two sides have been vexed, with

some observers worrying that

terrorist groups might gain a foot-

hold in the vast desert swathe and

further undermine stability in the

region. The negotiations have ba-

sically stalled since 2019, after the

former special U.N. envoy re-

signed, citing health reasons.

The escalating tensions in re-

cent days have drawn concerns

from the United Nations, the Afri-

can Union and nations in North

Africa and across the Middle East.

By ABDI LATIF DAHIR

U.N.-Backed Cease-Fire Ends as Rebels in Western Sahara Declare War on Morocco

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sat-
urday denied a report that Israeli
agents had fatally shot Al Qaeda’s
second-ranking leader on the
streets of Tehran, likening it to a
“Hollywood” scenario manufac-
tured by “American and Zionist”
officials.
The ministry issued the denial
to Iranian reporters in the wake of
a report Friday by The New York
Times, which quoted intelligence
officials as saying that Abdullah
Ahmed Abdullah, who went by the
nom de guerre Abu Muhammad
al-Masri, was killed by two motor-
cycle-riding assassins on Aug. 7.
That day was the anniversary
of the 1998 attacks on American
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania,
which killed 224 people. Mr. al-
Masri was accused of being one of
the masterminds of the attacks.
The killing of Mr. al-Masri and
his daughter was carried out by
Israeli agents at the behest of the
United States, The Times re-
ported.
Saeed Khatibzadeh, a foreign
ministry spokesman, denied “any
presence of Al Qaeda” members in
Iran. And he warned American
media outlets “not to fall for the
trap of Hollywood scenarios fed to
them by American and Zionist of-
ficials,” according to the min-
istry’s website.
Mr. al-Masri’s death had been
rumored but never confirmed un-
til The Times’s report.
Mr. al-Masri, who was about 58,
was one of Al Qaeda’s founding
leaders and was thought to be first
in line to lead the organization af-
ter its current leader, Ayman al-
Zawahri. The F.B.I. had offered a
$10 million reward for information
leading to his capture.
Mr. al-Masri’s presence in Iran
was surprising given that Iran
and Al Qaeda are bitter enemies.
American intelligence officials
told The Times that Mr. al-Masri
had been in Iran’s “custody” since
2003, but that he had been living
freely in an upscale suburb of
Tehran since at least 2015.
In its statement Saturday, Iran’s
foreign ministry accused the
United States and Israel of leaking
false information to the news me-
dia “so they don’t have to take re-
sponsibility for the murderous ac-
tions of this terrorist group and
other groups.”

Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokes-
man for Iran, denied the report.

IRAN’S FOREIGN MINISTRY, VIA SHUTTERSTOCK

Iran Denies

Qaeda’s No. 2

Was Shot Dead

At U.S.’s Behest

By FARNAZ FASSIHI