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Protests fail to stop Berlin mosque

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BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- An Islamic group laid the foundation stone for east Berlin's first mosque on Tuesday to protests reflecting Germany's difficulty in integrating its 3.2 million Muslims.

The Ahmadiyya movement's mosque, with its dome and 12-meter (40-foot) minaret, is due to open next year on the site of an old sauerkraut factory in the suburb of Pankow-Heinersdorf. But the move has angered residents who say few Muslims live there.

About 40 demonstrators gathered at the stone-laying ceremony. They waved banners and shouted "No mosque in Pankow".

"A place of worship -- be it a mosque, church or synagogue -- should be at the heart of a community," Joachim Swietlik, head of the campaign against the mosque, told Reuters.

Swietlik says Ahmadiyya, a movement founded in India in the 19th century which is not recognized by some mainstream Islamic groups because of its divergent beliefs, is a fundamentalist sect that wants to abolish democracy.

The movement, with 30,000 members and 15 mosques in Germany, stresses its peaceful values.

At the ceremony, placards with the slogan "Islam means peace, Love for all" adorned the white guest tent.

Abdullah Uwe Wagishauser, head of Germany's Ahmadiyyas, said he hoped for good relations between his community and opponents of the mosque.

"There are no difficulties with neighbors of Ahmadiyya mosques built elsewhere," he said. "Our mosques help inter religious dialogue and mutual understanding."

Berlin authorities gave permission to build the mosque just before Christmas after a months-long battle with opponents.

Resistance to the mosque has highlighted Germany's problems in integrating Muslims into mainstream society, especially in the formerly communist-ruled east where few have settled.

Most of the country's Muslims are of Turkish origin. Many came to West Germany as unskilled workers after World War Two.

Ahmadiyya women -- some with headscarves, others with covered faces -- were allowed to attend the ceremony as they had raised the roughly 1 million euros for the 500 square meters (5,382 sq ft) of land. But they had to gather in a different tent from the men.

Abdul Basit Tariq, imam of Berlin's Ahmadiyya community, told Reuters recently he needed a bigger mosque because of growing membership. The new building will accommodate 250 worshippers.

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