Sussex Police launch hate crime probe after mosque set ablaze

Highlights:

• Mosque in Peacehaven targeted in suspected arson attack
• Sussex Police treating the case as hate crime with intent to endanger life
• Incident follows deadly assault at Manchester synagogue
• Leaders call for unity and rejection of hate

POLICE in southern England are investigating a suspected arson attack at a mosque in Peacehaven as a hate crime, days after a fatal attack on a synagogue in Manchester.

Officers were called to the mosque on the southern coast late on Saturday. No one was injured, but the fire damaged the building’s front entrance and a vehicle parked outside.

Sussex Police released images of two masked men dressed in dark clothing and appealed to the public for help in identifying them.

Detective Inspector Gavin Patch said it was an “appalling and reckless attack which we know will have left many people feeling less safe.”

“We are treating this as an arson with intent to endanger life and are continuing to pursue a number of lines of enquiry to identify those responsible,” Patch said.

The fire came two days after an attack on a synagogue in Manchester in which two people were killed and three others were seriously injured. Police have suggested a possible link to Islamist extremism.

A spokesperson for the Peacehaven mosque said, “We are profoundly grateful that no-one was injured,” and urged people “to reject division and respond to hate with unity and compassion.”

“This hateful act does not represent our community or our town,” the spokesperson added.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said the attack was “deeply concerning.”

“Attacks against Britain’s Muslims are attacks against all Britons and this country itself,” Mahmood said on social media.

Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, also condemned the mosque fire and called for solidarity.

“Every faith community has the right to worship free from fear. Our country is better than this,” Rosenberg said.

“Over recent weeks there has been a lot of focus on how we have become a divided kingdom. But we are the United Kingdom. And we need to move forward against hate together.”

(With inputs from agencies)