(Brussels Times) Federal justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) has declined to grant a new recognition to the Great Mosque in the Cinquantenaire park in Brussels, unless there is a change of management.
The Great Mosque had its recognition as a local faith community withdrawn last year after it was found to be under the influence of the Saudi Arabian government, responsible for the propagation of Salafist theology, seen as being extremist.
The new application for recognition was supported by the main Muslim representative organisations, but was nevertheless turned down.
The reason was that Belgian intelligence had found evidence that the departure of the Saudis from the running of the mosque had cleared the way for Morocco, which had installed its own representatives.
