Laura Mansfield (LauraMansfield.com) publicerar en
intressant rapport om den islamistiska aktiviteten
kring Bellevue-moskén i Göteborg.
**
OSC Report 19 Oct: Sweden:
Gothenburg Mosque Hub for Extremist Activities Sweden -
- OSC Report Thursday, October 19, 2006
Sweden: Gothenburg Mosque Hub for Extremist Activities
Sweden: Gothenburg Mosque Hub for Extremist Activities
The Islamic Sunni Center in Gothenburg, which runs the Bellevue Mosque, has become a center for extremism in western Sweden, according to media reports. The Swedish terrorism suspect on trial in Sarajevo, Mirsad Bektasevic, attended the mosque, as did the recently arrested Abu Usama El-Swede, described by the press as Bektasevic's "mentor". Two extremist youth groups are also associated with the mosque. The spokesman for one of the groups and El-Swede are very active on the Internet.
The Islamic Sunni Center is co-located with and runs the Bellevue Mosque in an immigrant neighborhood in the western city of Gothenburg, with the prayer rooms on the first floor and the Sunni Center located on the second floor of the building (Goteborgs-Posten, 25 November 2005).
A study conducted by the city of Gothenburg indicates that the center is one of the largest Islamic organizations in the city. Founded in 1993, it has about 5,000 members from some 30 ethnic groups. The center attracts many international visitors (www.mangkultur.goteborg.se). It also organizes an annual conference for Muslims in Sweden, according to a Swedish Television report (25 April 2006).
Address and telephone numbers for Sunni Center and Bellevue Mosque:
Islamiska Sunni Centret i Goteborg
Generalsgatan 2A,
41505 Goteborg
Phone: 031-846304, 031-846364, or 031-849224
Fax: 031-843917 Cell phone: 070-439-9287
Email: ISSCentret@Telia.com
The Sunni Center also has a branch in the suburb of Bergsjon.
The Bellevue Mosque is the largest in Gothenburg, with over 2,000 members. The majority of them are Somali, but many Arabs also attend it. The mosque conducts prayers in Arabic and Swedish, and has two imams: Sheikh Yusuf Ahmed from Somalia and Imam Osman (Goteborgs-Posten, 25 November 2005).
Swedish Television reported that the Saudi government gave money to the Bellevue Mosque to purchase a site for a new mosque. The mosque authorities have identified the location, but construction has not yet begun (25 April 2006).
The Bellevue Mosque made the news when it was revealed that Mirsad Bektasevic, aka Maximus -- arrested in Sarajevo in October for planning terrorist attacks and recruiting terrorist via the Internet -- had attended prayers there. After this revelation, mosque leaders gave their first-ever press conference.
-- Mohammed Aden, a member of the board of the mosque, told the centrist Goteborgs-Posten that the mosque, which apparently has no official website, was trying to become more "open." He denied that Bektasevic was educated there, and said its imams "have never encouraged anyone to hurt others." He also added that the Swedish security police had informed the board their phones had been wiretapped (25 November 2005). Bellevue as Extremist Hub . . .
The tabloid daily Aftonbladet reported that Bektasevic's mentor at the mosque was a Swedish convert to Islam, known by his online name Abu Usama El-Swede, who was arrested by the Swedish and British police in May 2006. The British police reportedly asked the Swedes to apprehend him after they came across his name among the contacts of a British suspect in custody. Authorities believed that El-Swede was also connected with Abu Hamza in the UK. He was released after interrogation, but was told he remained a suspect under investigation (30 May 2006).
El-Swede with back turned to avoid identification (Aftonbladet , 30 May 2006)
Born Ralf Wadman, El-Swede changed his name to Abdu Raouf when he converted to Islam during his first prison term in 1998, following a history of petty crime and involvement in neo-Nazi groups. After the release, he moved to Morocco, where he married his first wife. Upon returning to Sweden, he divorced and became involved in narcotics. In 2003 he was arrested while smuggling the African drug khat from Denmark to Sweden. Before he could serve his sentence, he was arrested again for threatening a policeman. During the second prison term, he reassumed his Swedish last name (Metro, 31 May 2006).
According to Aftonbladet, El-Swede is a prolific contributor to Muslim chatrooms, where he has urged readers to "destroy Islam's enemies and put fear into the hearts of the scum." He has also issued threats against a Swedish evangelist preacher who last year called Muhammad a "pedophile" The same paper reported that in 2004 El-Swede maintained contact with a well-known neo-Nazi via one of his websites, and that the two discussed "taking up arms" and "storming" the Swedish Prime Minister's office (19 November 2006, 27 January 2006).
