Some good news from Italy via AKI, :
Rome, 5 Jan. (AKI) – Souad Sbai, a member of Italy’s government-appointed body on Muslim affairs, the Consulta, welcomed Friday the proposal of interior minister Giuliano Amato to control foreign funding of mosques. “Finally. We had been asking for years controls on money for mosques in our country,” said Sbai, who is also the leader of the Confederation of Moroccans in Italy. “We have always warned the government and public opinion that the nature of foreign funds for some mosques is unclear.”
There are approximately 1.2 million Muslims in Italy, of whom 20,000 are Italian converts.
The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy (UCOII), the largest Muslim group in Italy, and other Muslim organisations have invested two million euros in the past few years to buy 13 mosques across Italy – sparking allegations that part of the money came from fundamentalist foreign groups.