Copenhagen: Iranians in exile want boycott of Iran
See also: Sweden/Denmark: Protests outside Iranian embassies turn violent
The Danish Red-Green Alliance party barely manged to put the showdown regarding the Muslim parliamentary candidate Asmaa Abdol-Hamid behind them, and now a new religious war is threatening the party.
A group of the Red-Green Alliance's exiled Iranian members are criticizing the party's support for a great Shia Muslim mosque in Copenhagen, and calling for a boycott of the theocracy in Iran. Several of the Iranians have used the party's annual meeting to bring the issue up for debate.
"We think that Denmark should boycott Iran and close the embassy in the country, just as we did with South Africa," says parliamentary candidate Jaleh Tavakoli, a member of the Copenhagen council.
Jaleh Tavakoli abstained when the city council voted in April to approve the plans for the mosque construction - with 35 votes of the Social Democrats, Social Liberals, Socialist People's Party and Red-Green Alliance
The mosque plans have caused great debate, because the mosque is to be built as a traditional mosque with 32 meter high minarets and a blue dome, and there was also criticism that the great mosque is supposedly financed by the Iranian theocracy.
"Several hundred Iranians in exile have been killed by Iranian agents in recent years outside Iran's borders. These murders are well documented and were committed in many different countries all over the world. Therefore we consider the development of the mosque as a serious threat against Iranians in exile," says a joint statement by the Iranians.
The party's foreign affairs spokesperson, Frank Aaen, admits that there's internal disagreement within the municipal council group, but rejects a boycott of Iran.
This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog - islamineurope.blogspot.com
Source: Kristeligt-Dagblad (Danish)
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