Muslims gather in prayer for peace

By Sofia Kannas

MUSLIMS of all nationalities gathered at Nicosia’s Omeriye Mosque yesterday to unite in prayer against the war in Iraq.

Hundreds of Muslims attended the prayer gathering, which was organised by the Mosque’s imam, and planned to march to Eleftheria Square to demonstrate against the war.

For Egyptian Ali Hussain, the strikes on Iraq by coalition forces are just another waste of innocent human lives.

“So many children in Iraq are going to die, so many women and old people… But are they to blame in any way?

“How many Palestinians are killed every day? We all know Saddam (Hussein) is not a good man but is (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon any better? Is this really a democracy? America must stop this war — does everyone have to suffer because Bush is crazy?”

An Egyptian teacher at the Mosque expressed his sadness at the war.

“It’s very bad. Just like the war between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots was bad.”

A group of Pakistani students also called for peace before going into the mosque to pray.

Anti-war banners scattered about the Mosque garden in preparation for the demonstration denounced American President George Bush as “the New Hitler” and called for “Bloody Bush (to) go home and take Blair with (him).”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.