Jewish extremists attack mosque in west Jerusalem

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Jewish extremists tried to set light to a disused mosque in west Jerusalem and scrawled anti-Arab slogans on the building, an AFP correspondent said.

Slogans insulting the Islam and other graffiti reading "A good Arab is a dead Arab" and "price tag" were spray-painted on the exterior walls of the building in central Jerusalem.

Multiple slogans were daubed on the exterior walls but the perpetrators did not manage to get into the building, which has a minaret but which is currently being used as a storage facility for the city council, a municipal worker at the site said.

"During the night, there was an attempt to set fire to a disused mosque in the city centre," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, indicating the building was located very close to Jaffa Road, west Jerusalem's main shopping artery.

"Police also found graffiti on the walls. The police have opened an investigation."

Some of the exterior walls were burnt and there was a strong smell of petrol everywhere, although it appeared the fire had not caught.

But the attackers broke pipes in the building, with around 10 cm (four inches) of water on the floor inside, the correspondent said.

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