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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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A
New Mosque in Nicaragua Fires Up the Rumor
Mill
By Steve Stecklow
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- With just 300 or so
Muslims in all of Nicaragua, it became an
instant mystery here when a big new mosque
suddenly seemed to spring up recently in a
residential neighborhood.
Like, who paid for it?
The ever-present Managua rumor mill quickly
turned to the government of Iran. Its
president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Muslim,
and Nicaragua's leftist leader, Daniel
Ortega, a Catholic, say they share a
revolutionary kinship. As part of a
grandiose effort to show that Iran is a
global superpower, Mr. Ahmadinejad and his
government promised in 2007 and 2008 to
invest up to $1 billion in this impoverished
country of 5.7 million, including a new city
and deep-water port in a remote jungle on
the Atlantic Coast.
Never mind that local Nicaraguan officials
say they haven't heard a word on the port
project ever since an Iranian-led delegation
was confronted 18 months ago by angry
villagers. Or that virtually none of the
other announced investments have
materialized.
The geopolitical chatter surrounding the
gold-domed mosque, which opened in September
after more than a year of construction,
continues. "Did Iran put up the money?
That's the question everyone asks," says
Ismat Khatib, a native Nicaraguan lawyer and
businessman who is of Palestinian descent.
One Managua-based diplomat says it is
believed Iran subsidized it.
But Mr. Khatib, who is treasurer of the
Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Association,
which oversees the mosque, insists that the
Iranian government contributed not a single
córdoba. In fact, he says the only thing it
actually promised to donate was a large,
special rug for the mosque's prayer room --
and that it never arrived.
"This is the real version," says Mr. Khatib.
"You can end the mystery with this."
Not quite. Speculation also surrounds who
has been praying at the mosque, or la
mezquita, which offers services five times a
day, beginning at 4:30 a.m.
"All the Taliban," declares William
Martinez, a 24-year-old barber at Le
Moustache, a hair salon across the street.
Natalie Melendez, a clerk at the Veo Veo
video-rental store on the corner, offers a
different account. "There are two types of
people who use the mosque," she says,
matter-of-factly. "The Arabs and the
Iranians."
Muslims, particularly Palestinians, have
been emigrating to Nicaragua for decades and
have established a number of businesses
here, especially in the fabric trade. But
because their numbers are so small, their
faith remains foreign to most Nicaraguans,
who are largely Catholic or evangelical
Christian. Many here refer to all Muslims or
Middle Easterners as Turks, and seem to know
next to nothing about their religious
beliefs.
"They pray to the god of the moon so they
only gather at night," says Ms. Melendez.
In an interview, Fahmi M. Hassan, a
Palestinian fabric merchant and president of
the Islamic cultural association, sought to
dispel some of the myths surrounding the new
mosque, which he says cost about $600,000.
Mr. Hassan -- who says Nicaragua's Muslims
mostly are transplanted Palestinians,
Jordanians and Pakistanis -- scoffs at
rumors that Iran paid for the mosque. He
says the Iranian Embassy in Managua angered
the Muslim community here when it tried
about a year ago to compete with his Islamic
association by creating a similar entity
with a nearly identical name -- the
Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Center.
"No one went," he says, noting that
Nicaragua's Muslims are of the Sunni branch
of the Islamic faith while most Iranians are
of the smaller Shiite branch. Conflicts
between the two main Islamic sects date back
to the religion's earliest days and a
dispute over who should succeed the prophet
Mohammed as Muslim leader.
Mr. Hassan says the Iranian center closed
after a few months. But he still counts
Iran's ambassador to Nicaragua, Akbar
Esmaeil Pour, as a friend. In fact, he says,
the diplomat occasionally came to Managua's
old mosque -- located in a small house a few
blocks away from a busy strip of fabric
stores -- to pray. Mr. Pour declined to be
interviewed.
So who did pay for the mosque?
Mr. Hassan says the primary funder was a
Pakistani-born businessman who lives in
Honduras. After seeing how tiny the old
mosque was, the man offered to help finance
a new prayer center on a piece of land
purchased several years ago by local
Muslims, Mr. Hassan says. "He paid around
$350,000 and the rest was paid by the
[Muslim] community in Nicaragua."
He identified the donor as Yusuf Amdani.
Asked for Mr. Amdani's contact details, Mr.
Hassan suggested using Google to find him.
Reached by telephone in Honduras, Mr. Amdani,
who is chief executive of Grupo Karim's, a
textile-and-construction company based in
Honduras and Mexico, said, "There's no
mystery about the mosque."
He confirmed Mr. Hassan's account, saying
his company, which also financed the only
mosque in Honduras, agreed to pay for the
new Managua prayer center, although he
scaled back the original plans. He also says
he didn't pay for an adjoining annex that
includes a school and an apartment for the
imam, and suggested the Iranian government
may have helped fund that.
"I wouldn't doubt if they gave some money to
help them out," he says. "I would say they
must have."
Mr. Khatib says his family paid for the
annex.
On a recent visit to the mosque, a Wall
Street Journal reporter was stopped by
security guards at the front gate and,
without explanation, was denied access to an
afternoon ceremony. Just then, two local
Nicaraguan businessmen drove up in a car and
attempted to enter.
They publish a Managua tourist map and were
hoping to discuss with Mr. Hassan including
the new mosque in next year's edition.
Unfolding the map, Julio Gonzales noted that
the current one has a cathedral, but no
mosque and said that many tourists have been
asking where the new one is.
"He's very busy," said a man inside the
front gate. "He'll have to call you back."
Turning to leave, Mr. Gonzales took another
look at the mosque. "Good building," he said
in English.
Maybe so, but it turns out that this one
shares something in common with many
construction projects the world over -- a
dispute with the contractor.
José Ocon, who built the mosque for Mr.
Amdani, says he's owed $15,000 because of
some last-minute changes to the dome he made
at the local Muslim community's request --
increasing its height and adding a row of
windows.
He says he called Mr. Hassan and said, "I
need to get together to discuss the extras
that you all requested."
The builder says Mr. Hassan replied, "What
extras?"
Mr. Hassan says he doesn't know anything
about the contractor's claim. Mr. Khatib
says it's Mr. Amdani's problem since he
agreed to pay for the mosque. Mr. Amdani
says he'll look into the matter.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ocon recalled that at one
point during construction, a local newspaper
called him and asked if he was building a
new Iranian Embassy. "I said, 'No, I was
making a mosque.' "
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