P4KI_786
10th July 2005, 20:09
The fire broke out in a toilet at the Jamiat Tablighul Islam Mosque in Laurel Terrace, Armley on Friday morning.
A police spokeswoman said they thought a piece of cloth was put through a window to start the fire but "there was definitely no accelerant used".
Mohammed Jamil Ismail, a member of the mosque, said community relations in the area were normally very good but he had feared they might be targeted.
"We did not envisage this sort of attack so quickly after the incident that happened in London," he said.
"We have a large Muslim community around here and it's not very nice to be attacked at this time when all the attention is on the Muslim community.
"It seems to me that it may well be a retaliatory action by some fundamentalist part of the non-Muslim community.
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/2915/image8dl.jpg
Fire damage was limited to the toilet window
A police spokeswoman said they thought a piece of cloth was put through a window to start the fire but "there was definitely no accelerant used".
Mohammed Jamil Ismail, a member of the mosque, said community relations in the area were normally very good but he had feared they might be targeted.
"We did not envisage this sort of attack so quickly after the incident that happened in London," he said.
"We have a large Muslim community around here and it's not very nice to be attacked at this time when all the attention is on the Muslim community.
"It seems to me that it may well be a retaliatory action by some fundamentalist part of the non-Muslim community.
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/2915/image8dl.jpg
Fire damage was limited to the toilet window