Muslims beaten up in UK mosque » Communities » 24dash.com

Police are appealing for calm after four men were beaten up in a mosque last night.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of racial assault after police were called to the Eccles Mosque on Liverpool Road in Salford, Greater Manchester, shortly before 9.30pm following a report of an attack inside the building.

One man was taken to Hope Hospital but has since been discharged. The other three men were only slightly hurt and did not need hospital treatment.

A 37-year-old man from Eccles and a 19-year-old man from Davyhulme, Trafford, were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated Section 37 assault and racially aggravated Section 49 assault.

Chief Inspector Geoff Wessell, of Salford CID, said: "Greater Manchester Police take crimes of this nature extremely seriously and a thorough investigation is currently under way.

"I would appeal to members of the local community in and around Eccles to remain calm, behave responsibly and let police deal with the incident and those responsible for it."

An Islamic youth organisation, based in Manchester, blamed politicians for the attack tonight and said the local community was "extremely fearful" they were not even safe inside a mosque.

Mohammed Shafiq, from the Ramadhan Foundation, said: "This is another example of Muslims being attacked and persecuted - and the responsiblity lies with the politicians who have been on a feeding frenzy attacking Muslims and giving ammunition to thugs' hatred towards us.

"The responsibility for this lies with the likes of Jack Straw, Phil Woolas and others who believe it's open season on Muslims.

Mr Shafiq said Muslims in the area were scared.

"We used to see attacks on the street but now we're seeing them in the mosques - people even go into a holy place and attack us.

"People are extremely fearful now, especially the elderly people.

"People think they might be attacked on the way to the mosque or even inside while they're praying."

Mr Shafiq said he has urged local Muslims not to respond to the attacks and tried to reassure them.

"The police are dealing with the situation and that should be enough for us."

He added: "So far it does not look like an organised campaign. The police have told me that no pattern of attacks has emerged and I have told people that."

Phil Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, dismissed claims that his controversial contribution to the debate about Muslim veils had fuelled the religious tensions behind the mosque attack.

The Government's race minister said: "Any such attacks are appalling.

"But I don't accept politicians' comments are to blame for this. That would imply there haven't been attacks before which, of course, there have been."

Last weekend the minister said Yorkshire teacher Aishah Azmi's refusal to remove her veil in meant she could not "do her job", and insisted that barring men from working with her would amount to "sexual discrimination".

The leader of Salford City Council said the council would be liaising with local police to ensure Muslims felt supported.

Labour councillor John Merry said: "I am very concerned to hear about these attacks.

"Eccles is a settled community where, thankfully, incidents like these are very rare.

"We'll be working closely with Greater Manchester Police to see if there is more support we can offer people in that area."

Copyright Press Association 2006.