Sweden blaze: Another mosque suffers arson attack

Police say the cause is under investigation

STOCKHOLM: A fire broke out at a mosque in Sweden early  Monday in what appeared to be the second arson attack in less than a week on a place of Muslim worship, officials said.

Emergency services were called to the mosque in the southern city of Eslöv early Monday morning.

State broadcaster said firefighters extinguished the blaze, preventing it from spreading.

No one was reported hurt in the blaze, which started around 3 am at a mosque in the southern town of Eslov; however, the fire damaged the mosque.

While police said the cause was under investigation, a fire department spokesman said it appeared to be an act of arson.

“There is no possible natural explanation for this type of fire to break out” by itself, Gustaf Sandell told public radio.

The blaze comes four days after an arsonist set fire to a mosque in central Sweden city of Eskilsuna, injuring five people. The December 25 blaze began after a firebomb was hurled through one of the mosque’s windows while 70 people were inside.

Sweden, known for tolerance and refugee-friendly policies, saw an extreme right party, the Sweden Democrats, become the third-largest force in parliament in legislative elections in September.

In early December, the party brought down the government after less than three months by refusing to back its budget proposal in parliament.

On Saturday the government announced it had reached a deal with the opposition that will enable it to remain in power and to avert the Nordic country’s first snap elections in more than half a century, but the far right has threatened to hold a no-confidence vote.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2014.