Planners to rule on 'mega-mosque'

Planners were deciding Wednesday whether to approve the construction of a controversial 'mega-mosque', the local council in the area here said. Members of Newham Council were publicly considering if Muslim "missionary group Tablighi Jamaat" can build the venue, with capacity for more than 9,000 worshippers, in West Ham, east London. If permission is granted, the Abbey Mills Mosque - also known as the Riverine Centre - would become the biggest Islamic centre in Britain and one of the largest in western Europe, the British media said. Council officers have recommended councillors refuse permission for expansion on the former industrial land, amid strong opposition and concern about the project. Standing in the shadow of the 2012 Olympic Park in Stratford, the new mosque would include a prayer hall for up to 7,440 men and a separate facility for almost 2,000 women. Tablighi Jamaat currently uses part of the 17-acre Abbey Mills site to house the London Markaz, also referred to as Masjid-e-Ilyas, a temporary hub which can host up to 2,500 people. The Islamic sect, which started in India in the late 1920s, has been accused in the past of radicalising young Muslims. The group itself has said it "refrains from political or controversial activities and stands for democracy and freedom" and that it "promotes social and religious integration". According to reports, the mosque - first mooted in 2007 - would take up three times the floor space of St Paul's Cathedral. Since Tablighi Jamaat moved into the Abbey Mills site in 1996, it has become embroiled in a series of application and enforcement disputes with Newham Council. (