Moscow Cathedral Mosque taken down for reconstruction

The Moscow Cathedral Mosque was razed for reconstruction last week,
deputy chairman of the central Muslim administration Albir Krganov
said, Interfax reports.

Krganov expressed surprise that the building was taken down on Sunday,
the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack in the USA.

Ravil Gaynutdin, head of the Russian Mufti Council, the organization
reconstructing the mosque, said that the building is of no historic
value.

The Moscow Cathedral Mosque was put on the list of cultural heritage
on June 30, 2008. It was removed from the list in November 2009.

Spokesman of the Mufti Council spoke for taking down the mosque on
January 21, 2009, it is not pointing directly to Kaaba.

The mosque was built on Vypolzovy Avenue in 1904, financed by a Tatar
merchant Salikh Yerzin.