Canada dedicates cemetery to Muslims in Quebec

Ottawa Aug 5 (IANS/WAM) Muslims in Canada s Quebec City are going to have their own cemetery the citys mayor and members of the Muslim community said.

The announcement on Friday came three weeks after a referendum narrowly defeated the establishment of a Muslim-only burial ground -- a project headed by the Quebec Islamic Culture Centre -- in a nearby town.

Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume announced the land deal explaining that city regulations allowed for the creation of a cemetery on the property.

The 6 000-square metre site will open later this year and will be the first Muslim-owned and operated cemetery in the Quebec City region.

"It s a great day " said Mohamed Labidi head of the Quebec Islamic Culture Centre. "It is a historic day for Quebec City. Today we are reaping the benefits of 20 years of hard work " he added.

Boufeidja Benabdallah Interim Coordinator of the cemetery project said the cemetery means Muslim families in the area will not have to face a long trip to visit the graves of their deceased relatives and friends. The current closest Muslim cemetery is 266 kilometres away.

The new site is next to the Notre-Dame-de-Belmont cemetery and near the centre where six Muslims were gunned down by a white supremacist earlier this year.

--IANS/WAM
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