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Bomb attack on

Belgrade mosque

BELGRADE: A powerful bomb damaged Belgrade's central mosque around midnight, an Islamic leader said on Tuesday.

There were no casualties in the explosion which severely damaged the stone Bayrakli Mosque and shattered windows on surrounding buildings up to the eighth floor.

"This is the most powerful attack on the mosque and on the Islamic community in Belgrade," Belgrade's Mufti Hamdija Jusufspahic told Reuters.

He said the explosion caused substantial damage outside and inside the building.

"The goal of the attack was not to intimidate but to destroy the mosque and the minaret," he said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The Mufti said police investigators on the scene had still not given him details but he thought the bomb was not thrown into the mosque's courtyard as reported by Belgrade press.

"I believe it was planted and activated by remote control since it would be highly unlikely, given its power, that the attacker could have thrown it and stayed alive," he said.

"We are very very sad over the attack and there are no words with which we can express our sorrow over the attack which we have done nothing to provoke except for being Moslems," he said.

Several cars parked nearby were damaged in the blast which could be heard miles away in other districts of Belgrade.

Belgrade press reported that Mayor Nebojsa Covic visited the scene soon after the attack. The Mufti said Covic had promised full cooperation.

"We hope that the authorities will prevent further attacks by people without faith, honour and culture," the Mufti said.

Belgrade police were at the scene minutes after the explosion, witnesses said.

This is the third bomb attack on the central mosque for Belgrade's 150,000-strong Moslem community since war broke out in neighbouring Bosnia four years ago and the second since March 30.-Reuter