الولايات المتحدة: حريق متعمد بمسجد ماريتا بولاية جورجيا

أكد مسؤولو إطفاء الحرائق بشرطة ولاية "جورجيا" أن الحريق الذي تعرض له مسجد "ماريتا" مساء الثلاثاء حريق متعمد، شب على إثر قيام مجهول بهجوم ناري على المسجد.

وقد أدت النيران التي شبت بالمسجد - عقب خروج جموع المصلين من صلاة العشاء - إلى إحداث أضرار بالغة بالمدخل الأمامي وقاعة الصلاة.

وقد طالب "إبراهيم هوبر" - المتحدث باسم مجلس العلاقات الإسلامية الأمريكية "كير" - مكتب التحقيقات الفيدرالية بالبحث عن دوافع الاعتداء الإجرامي، مؤكدًا أن هناك فئة بالمجتمع الأمريكي تعمل على تذكية كراهية الإسلام، وأشار أيضًا إلى أهمية اعتبار حوادث الاعتداء على المساجد بـ"الولايات المتحدة" التي كثُرت في الآونة الأخيرة.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

A fire at a Marietta mosque is believed to be arson, fire officials said. They said the incident is also being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Assistant Chief Scott Tucker said authorities found vandalism inside the mosque where a fire erupted just after midnight Tuesday. He would not specify what type of vandalism it was.

Flames raced through the front entrance and damaged the prayer hall at the mosque on Powder Springs Street in Marietta.

The damage to the mosque was extensive. The fire destroyed the front entrance of Masjid Al Head just after a group of Muslim men wrapped up their last prayer and left for the evening.

“We locked the door and everything and we left and suddenly he called me and said, ‘There’s fire,’” said Iman Hafiz Inayatullah of Nashid Al Head.

“One of them happened to come back by after they left and observed the smoke. He got closer and noticed the structure was on fire,” said Assistant Chief Mark Anderson of the Marietta Fire Department.

Arson investigators went through the building looking for a cause.

Tucker said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and the Georgia Fire Marshal's Office are now involved.

No one was injured.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling on the FBI to investigate a possible bias motive for the fire.

“Given the recent wave of incidents targeting American mosques, a possible bias motive for this apparent arson attack must be considered,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “Unfortunately, there is a vocal minority in our society promoting anti-Muslim bigotry, and that minority is experiencing little or no pushback from mainstream religious and political leaders”.