AMSTERDAM, Nov 13: A small mosque was destroyed by fire in the Netherlands on Saturday but no one was hurt in what police suspect may have been the latest in a spate of arson attacks against religious targets.
"We are seriously taking into account the possibility it was arson. We can only be sure after the investigation is complete," police spokeswoman Judith Verbaan said of the blaze at Helden near the German border in the southern part of the country.
"The fire broke out at 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) and was brought under control in about 10 minutes."
The Netherlands has seen an upsurge in violence since anti-Muslim filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot and stabbed by a militant as he cycled to work on Nov. 2, raising tensions in a country known for its tolerance.
There have been at least 20 arson attacks on mosques and churches since he was killed. Police said on Thursday they have arrested "several dozen" people in connection with the wave of arson attacks, bomb threats, letters containing suspicious powder and far-right vandalism since the murder.
The Helden mosque in the Limburg province, a converted outbuilding of a school and mainly made of wood, is unusable as most of it burnt down, Verbaan said.
Van Gogh had enraged some Muslims with a film accusing Islam of promoting violence against women.
Police arrested two men in a raid in The Hague on Wednesday after a 14-hour standoff in which the suspects threw a grenade, wounding four officers.
They and four others, arrested in Amsterdam and Amersfoort, face charges of membership in a "terrorist" organisation. A seventh arrested man, from Amsterdam, is accused of involvement in Van Gogh's killing.
MURDER PLOT: The two men arrested after the police siege in The Hague were plotting to assassinate outspoken Dutch politicians Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders, Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad said on Saturday, but prosecutors could not confirm the report.-Reuters
