LONDON: Police said on Sunday they were investigating a suspected arson at a mosque in southern England as a “hate crime,” days after a fatal attack on a synagogue.
Officers were called to the incident at the mosque in the southern coast town of Peacehaven late on Saturday.
While no one was injured, the blaze caused damage to the mosque’s front entrance and a vehicle parked outside.
In the wake of the attack, Sussex Police shared images of two masked men dressed in dark clothing, and appealed for help from the public to identify them.
Detective Inspector Gavin Patch branded the fire an “appalling and reckless attack which we know will have left many people feeling less safe.”
“We are treating this as an arson with intent to endanger life and are continuing to pursue a number of lines of enquiry to identify those responsible,” said Patch.
The fire follows an attack Thursday on a synagogue in the northern city of Manchester in which two people died and three others were seriously injured, with officers drawing a potential link to Islamist extremism.
A spokesperson for the Peacehaven mosque said “we are profoundly grateful that no-one was injured,” calling for “everyone to reject division and respond to hate with unity and compassion.”
“This hateful act does not represent our community or our town,” the spokesperson added.
Interior minister Shabana Mahmood called the attack “deeply concerning.”
“Attacks against Britain’s Muslims are attacks against all Britons and this country itself,” added Mahmood on social media.
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, also condemned the mosque fire, appealing for greater solidarity.
“Every faith community has the right to worship free from fear. Our country is better than this,” Rosenberg said.
“Over recent weeks there has been a lot of focus on how we have become a divided kingdom. But we are the United Kingdom. And we need to move forward against hate together.”
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UK police probe fire at mosque as ‘hate crime’
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UK police probe fire at mosque as ‘hate crime’
- Officers were called to the incident at the mosque in the southern coast town of Peacehaven late on Saturday
- While no one was injured, the blaze caused damage to the mosque’s front entrance and a vehicle parked outside
Sri Lanka hospital releases 22 rescued Iranian sailors
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka discharged from hospital 22 Iranian sailors who were plucked from life rafts after their warship was sunk by a US submarine, officials said Sunday.
The sailors were treated at Karapitiya Hospital in the southern port city of Galle since Wednesday after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.
“Another 10 are still undergoing treatment,” a medical officer at the hospital told AFP.
He said the bodies of 84 Iranians retrieved from the Indian Ocean were also at the hospital.
Those discharged from hospital overnight had been taken to a beach resort in the same district.
Sri Lankan authorities said the survivors from the Dena were being handled according to international humanitarian law, and the government had contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross for assistance.
The island is also providing safe haven for another 219 Iranian sailors from a second ship, the IRIS Bushehr, that was allowed to berth a day after the Dena was sunk.
Sailors from the Bushehr have been moved to a Sri Lanka Navy camp at Welisara, just north of the capital Colombo, and their ship taken over by Sri Lanka’s navy.
Sri Lanka announced it was taking the Bushehr to the north-eastern port of Trincomalee, but an engine failure and other technical and administrative issues had delayed the movement, a navy spokesman said.
Sri Lanka has denied claims that it was under pressure from Washington not to allow the Iranians to return home, and said Colombo will be guided solely by international law and its own domestic legislation.
A US State Department spokesperson said the disposition of the Bushehr crew and Iranian sailors rescued at sea was up to Sri Lanka.
“The United States, of course, respects and recognizes Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in the handling of this situation,” the spokesperson told AFP in Washington.
India, meanwhile, said Saturday that it had allowed a third Iranian warship, the IRIS Lavan, to dock in one of its ports on “humane” grounds after it too reported engine problems.
The three ships were part of a multi-national fleet review held by India before the war in the Middle East started last week.
“I think it was the humane thing to do, and I think we were guided by that principle,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday.
The Lavan docked in the south-west Indian port of Kochi on Wednesday.
“A lot of the people on board were young cadets. They have disembarked and are in a nearby facility,” Jaishankar said.
The sailors were treated at Karapitiya Hospital in the southern port city of Galle since Wednesday after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.
“Another 10 are still undergoing treatment,” a medical officer at the hospital told AFP.
He said the bodies of 84 Iranians retrieved from the Indian Ocean were also at the hospital.
Those discharged from hospital overnight had been taken to a beach resort in the same district.
Sri Lankan authorities said the survivors from the Dena were being handled according to international humanitarian law, and the government had contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross for assistance.
The island is also providing safe haven for another 219 Iranian sailors from a second ship, the IRIS Bushehr, that was allowed to berth a day after the Dena was sunk.
Sailors from the Bushehr have been moved to a Sri Lanka Navy camp at Welisara, just north of the capital Colombo, and their ship taken over by Sri Lanka’s navy.
Sri Lanka announced it was taking the Bushehr to the north-eastern port of Trincomalee, but an engine failure and other technical and administrative issues had delayed the movement, a navy spokesman said.
Sri Lanka has denied claims that it was under pressure from Washington not to allow the Iranians to return home, and said Colombo will be guided solely by international law and its own domestic legislation.
A US State Department spokesperson said the disposition of the Bushehr crew and Iranian sailors rescued at sea was up to Sri Lanka.
“The United States, of course, respects and recognizes Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in the handling of this situation,” the spokesperson told AFP in Washington.
India, meanwhile, said Saturday that it had allowed a third Iranian warship, the IRIS Lavan, to dock in one of its ports on “humane” grounds after it too reported engine problems.
The three ships were part of a multi-national fleet review held by India before the war in the Middle East started last week.
“I think it was the humane thing to do, and I think we were guided by that principle,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday.
The Lavan docked in the south-west Indian port of Kochi on Wednesday.
“A lot of the people on board were young cadets. They have disembarked and are in a nearby facility,” Jaishankar said.
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