By IRNA,
Berlin : Dozens of neo-Nazis protested Wednesday construction of Germany’s largest mosque in western city of Cologne, according to local press reports.
The far-right group tried to disrupt the topping-out ceremony of the mosque, the daily newspaper Koelner Stadt Anzeiger reported.
The mosque, designed for 1,200 people, features a 37-meter-high dome and two minarets standing 55 meters tall.
The final site, occupying 5,000 square meters, is to include a cultural and conference center.
Construction work started in November 2009, after numerous bureaucratic obstacles.
Mosques in Germany have been the target of firebombings in recent months amid growing Islamophobia in the country.
Berlin mosques have been the scene of at least seven arson attacks since June 2010, among the Iranian Islamic Culture Center.
The Sehitlik Mosque, Berlin’s biggest mosque, has been firebombed four times over the past months.
German Muslim leaders have repeatedly voiced strong concern over the ongoing firebombings against mosques, calling for stepped up security measures.
The center-right government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has tried to downplay the latest series of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the wake of of deepening Islamophobia in Germany.