Berlin mosques to hold prayers for 9-11 victims 05/09/2006 00:00

5 September 2006

BERLIN - At 40 Berlin mosques, imams are to lead prayers this Friday for the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Guenter Piening, the state of Berlin's commissioner for ethnic minorities, said Tuesday there had never been a joint condemnation of terrorism on this scale before in the mosques of Germany's biggest city and capital.

The prayers "for peace and responsibility" will remember about 3,000 people killed in the suicide plane attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the four plane crashes and are expected to be attended by some 10,000 Muslims.

Berlin not only has a sizeable ethnic Turkish community, but also many Arab residents. Six mosques will also invite non-Muslims to pray.

Piening said the project, coordinated by the city Islamic Forum, was the biggest interfaith gesture ever by city mosques.

Groups taking part comprise the city Islamic Federation, Turkish-based group DITIB, the IBMUS group of Berlin Muslims, the VIKZ federation of Islamic culturem and Ahmadiyya Muslims.

DPA

Subject: German news