- Title: UGANDA: Libya's Gaddafi opens "2nd largest" African mosque in Kampala
- Date: 23rd March 2008
- Summary: TWO UGANDAN WOMEN SWAYING TO MUSIC, POSTER OF GADDAFI IN BACKGROUND ELDERLY UGANDAN MAN WEARING GADDAFI T-SHIRT DANCING ROW OF UGANDAN MEN DANCING
- Embargoed: 7th April 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Uganda
- Country: Uganda
- Topics: International Relations,Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA1HO0NRU2ZQ6GBP3T3H4YX9R10
- Story Text: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi opens Africa's second largest mosque in Uganda at a ceremony attended by five African presidents.
Libyan president Colonel Muammar Gaddafi opened Africa's second largest mosque on Wednesday (March 19) at a ceremony attended by five African presidents and over 3,500 foreign delegates who were in the country for a five-day Afro-Arab summit that closed on Monday (March 17).
Gaddafi -- accompanied by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, Mali president Amadou Toumani Toure, Rwandan president Paul Kagame, Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed -- opened the "Gaddafi National Mosque", the construction cost of which is still undisclosed.
The various heads of state security personnel were caught up in a scuffle with flamboyant leader Gaddafi's heavy entourage of presidential guards as the mosque was opened.
Both Gaddafi and Museveni called for unity among Muslims and between Muslims and other religious faiths.
Gaddafi appealed to all Muslims in Uganda to be united, saying there is only one Muslim faith.
The mosque located on top of the capital Kampala's "Old Hill"
overlooking the city is said to be the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, with the capacity to accommodate about 12,000 people, and the second largest in Africa, according to Ugandan government officials.
Colonel Gaddafi, who is sometimes referred to in official circles as "Leader of the Libyan Revolution and Commander of the World Islamic People's Leadership", also used the opportunity to condemn the Danish government for the recent republication of the satirical cartoons mocking the Muslim prophet Mohammad, which initially caused international outcry in 2005, and again when they were republished earlier this year.
"They are filthy and racist. They are the enemies of humanity, the enemies of God, Jesus and Moses. Because Jesus believes in Mohammad, Moses believes in Mohammad and Mohammad believes in Moses and Jesus. Does Scandinavia believe in Jesus? Not at all," Gaddafi said.
Muslim leaders in Uganda say most of the mosque is made of concrete, making it one of the strongest buildings in the continent.
It has a compound measuring half an acre, a conference hall with translation gadgets, a computer laboratory, library and a guest house, in addition to a spacious lobby and a general library.
The mosque was named after the Libyan leader, following his donation to help complete construction of the structure that froze in the late 1970s due to political and religious wrangles in the country after former Ugandan president Idi Amin, who initiated the construction, left power after a long war.
It was reported that Gaddafi would meet the maintenance bill of the mosque for the next 10 years.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Libyan leader led prayers marking the birth of Prophet Mohammed at Nakivubo Stadium, about two kilometres away from the Gaddafi National Mosque. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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