Controversy Erupts Over Proposed Transfer of Angers Mosque to Moroccan Control

"Let’s save our mosque, a national and Angevin heritage, built thanks to the donations of the faithful. [...] Indeed, this Friday, September 25, Mohamed Briwa (the new president, editor’s note) is organizing an extraordinary general meeting by convening his board of directors, composed of his friends, not representative of all Muslims and their ethnic components. And this, so that they deliberate on an agenda that has been thought out and prepared for a long time (the transfer of the mosque)," says Mr. El Hourch.

The construction work on the mosque on the Capucins plateau had started in 2014. The transfer to Morocco would make it possible to have the necessary funds to complete the said construction, which is at a standstill, reports France ouest. But the former president of the AMA does not embrace this idea. He reproaches his successor Mr. Briwa for not having informed the donors, all the people of Angers. There have been 45 years of solidarity around the project, of moral and financial contributions and 3,000,000 € injected for the construction.

Mr. El Hourch sees in this ongoing transfer the avoidance of a trial. "Strangely, this haste comes at a time when there is an ongoing trial and judgment (the hearing will be held on October 28, 2020). Consequently, all these transactions are orchestrated to avoid the trial and escape the financial audit," he denounces. For him, it is clear that the procedure aims to challenge the exclusion of the former president a year ago. "As long as this is not settled, the association cannot make decisions like the one to transfer the mosque," he insists.