Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi opens Africa's second largest mosque in
Uganda at a ceremony attended by five African presidents. 

KAMPALA, UGANDA (MARCH 19, 2008) (REUTERS) - 
Libyan president Colonel Muammar Gaddafi opened Africa's second
largest mosque on Wednesday (March 19) at a ceremony attended by five African
presidents and over 3,500 foreign delegates who were in the country for a
five-day Afro-Arab summit that closed on Monday (March 17). 
    Gaddafi -- accompanied by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, Mali
president Amadou Toumani Toure, Rwandan president Paul Kagame, Kenyan
president Mwai Kibaki and Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed -- opened the
"Gaddafi National Mosque", the construction cost of which is still
undisclosed. 
    The various heads of state security personnel were caught up in a
scuffle with flamboyant leader Gaddafi's heavy entourage of presidential
guards as the mosque was opened.
    Both Gaddafi and Museveni called for unity among Muslims and between
Muslims and other religious faiths. 
    Gaddafi appealed to all Muslims in Uganda to be united, saying there is
only one Muslim faith. 
    The mosque located on top of the capital Kampala's "Old Hill"
overlooking the city is said to be the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, with the
capacity to accommodate about 12,000 people, and the second largest in Africa,
according to Ugandan government officials. 
    Colonel Gaddafi, who is sometimes referred to in official circles as
"Leader of the Libyan Revolution and Commander of the World Islamic
People's Leadership", also used the opportunity to condemn the Danish
government for the recent republication of the satirical cartoons mocking the
Muslim prophet Mohammad, which initially caused international outcry in 2005,
and again when they were republished earlier this year.
    "They are filthy and racist. They are the enemies of humanity, the
enemies of God, Jesus and Moses. Because Jesus believes in Mohammad, Moses
believes in Mohammad and Mohammad believes in Moses and Jesus. Does
Scandinavia believe in Jesus? Not at all," Gaddafi said.
    Muslim leaders in Uganda say most of the mosque is made of concrete,
making it one of the strongest buildings in the continent.
    It has a compound measuring half an acre, a conference hall with
translation gadgets, a computer laboratory, library and a guest house, in
addition to a spacious lobby and a general library. 
    The mosque was named after the Libyan leader, following his donation to
help complete construction of the structure that froze in the late 1970s due
to political and religious wrangles in the country after former Ugandan
president Idi Amin, who initiated the construction, left power after a long
war. 
    It was reported that Gaddafi would meet the maintenance bill of the
mosque for the next 10 years. 
    Earlier on Wednesday, the Libyan leader led prayers marking the birth
of Prophet Mohammed at Nakivubo Stadium, about two kilometres away from the
Gaddafi National Mosque.