PETITION AGAINST BUILDING ISLAMIC CENTRE IN RIJEKA PRESENTED

RIJEKA, March 19 (Hina) - The chairmen of five local councils in western suburbs of the coastal city of Rijeka have forwarded a petition with 5,303 signatures of citizens who oppose the building of an Islamic centre at a location called Zamet, i.e. Hostov Brijeg (hill). #L# The chairman of the council of the Zamet suburb, Dominik Beno, said at a news conference on Wednesday that councillors as well as some 70,000 citizens were against the construction of an Islamic centre at the proposed location, given that the mosque at that place would dominate the area. Mr. Beno said that a few years ago there had been talks about the construction of a mosque, while at present there were plans for building the Islamic centre on 4,000 square metres, which should be in service not only to the Islamic faithful in Croatia, but, as Beno said, to other believers of this religion from several European countries. He asserted that "since 11 September terror attacks, the public attitude has been changed." One of the arguments in the discussion against building the mosque at the said location in this seaport is that the physical planning of Rijeka envisages that each building should have elements of the indigenous architecture, while the proposed design of the mosque did not meet this condition and is incongruous with its surroundings and the architecture of the Croatian coastal area. The councillors suggest to the city authorities to find a new and smaller location for the construction of the centre. A public debate on the architectural plans for the construction of the centre should be wrapped up on 21 March. Outstanding sculptor Dusan Djamonja and architects Darko Vlahovic and Branko Vucinovic have drawn up a plan for the construction, and the city authorities as well as the leadership of the Islamic community in Rijeka accepted it. (hina) ms sb