Muslims protest again in Kosovo's capital to demand a new mosque

Several hundred ethnic Albanian Muslims conducted Friday prayers in a square in central Pristina in a protest demanding space for a new mosque.

The faithful obeyed a police order not to block any streets during the demonstration. Last week police arrested a man who did that during a similar protest by about 300 Muslims.

The demand for a new mosque has grown since a high school was taken down last year to make way for a Roman Catholic Cathedral in downtown Pristina.

That sentiment was obvious Friday when a banner appeared on a mosque wall showing a green light by a photograph of a Christian cathedral and a red light beneath one of a mosque.

"We just want a place for us where to pray out of the open," said Remzi Berisha, an ethnic Albanian Muslim.

Kosovo is secular, but a majority of its people are ethnic Albanians who are mostly Muslim. A small minority are Roman Catholic.

Local authorities say they are looking at possible sites in the centre of Pristina to resolve the dispute. In Kosovo, most of the mosques date from the Ottoman era.