New Munich mosque gets go-ahead
Munich - Plans for a new mosque to be built in Munich got the official go-ahead Wednesday, after years of political wrangling.
The city council approved building plans for the 10-million-euro (13 million dollar) mosque to be built in the city centre, despite opposition from Bavaria's Christian Socialist Union (CSU) and another regional party.
A broad political majority voted in favour of the project, including Social Democrats (SPD), Federal Democrats (FDP), Greens and the Left Party, according to a city spokesman.
The Turkish-Islamic mosque organisation Ditim now has to obtain the funds to buy the land for the mosque by the middle of 2009.
Building works for the mosque were originally due to start in 2007, but the regional Bavarian government overturned the city's approval for the project. The final go-ahead was granted after a legal appeal by the mosque organisers. (dpa)
