March 27, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 23, 1424

PARIS, March 26: The Rahma mosque, in the French industrial city of Nancy on the border with Germany, was reportedly set on fire and partially destroyed on Wednesday early morning.

According to the treasurer of the mosque, the one-room prefabricated structure was criminally-set on fire, and French police are also treating it as an arson attack.

Mosque authorities have demanded that local municipal authorities do more to place the structure under their protection, as had been promised late last week by French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy who had assured religious leaders that the country’s 2300 mosques and synagogues would be subjected to stepped-up police protection.

For the moment governmental authorities in Nancy have provided local Muslims with the use of a school gymnasium to serve as their prayer room for this Friday and for the foreseeable future.

AFP ADDS: “There are elements which lead us to suppose it was a criminal act,” a police officer said. A burnt ladder was found at the scene and there were signs of a break-in.

Around 30 fire-fighters needed two hours to control the fire, in a poor suburb of the city.—AFP