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Summary An arson attack on a mosque in Belgium killed imam and injured another person.
A man set fire to a mosque in Brussels on Monday, killing its 47-year-old imam and injuring another person, in an arson attack that destroyed a large part of the building, police told AFP.Police officials at the scene confirmed it was the imam who died when a firebomb was thrown into the Shiite mosque, police spokeswoman Marie Verbeke said.The imam, who succumbed to the fumes in the burnt-out place of worship, was with a second person, who was lightly injured, at the time of the attack.A suspect was taken into custody at the scene, Verbeke added.A witness saw the suspect, a man, set fire to the building, Verbeke said, but no other details were immediately available.Anderlecht Mayor Vincent Van Goidsenhoven said the suspect threw a Molotov cocktail at the mosque, Belga news agency reported.The mosque was apparently almost entirely burned down, Verbeke said.Belgian public broadcasters RTBF and a stream of Twitter users said that a group of at least 50 people had gathered outside the Shiite mosque.Police said they received a call at 6:45 pm (1745 GMT) and the body was pulled out 45 minutes later.The area around the mosque, near Belgiums main international railway hub, has a large immigrant Muslim population.
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