Sweden allows mosque to hold Azan for prayer

STOCKHOLM: Swedish police on Tuesday granted a mosque permission to hold a weekly call for prayer, triggering divisions among politicians and the public five months ahead of elections in a country which has taken in waves of asylum seekers in recent years.

The police permit, which is valid for a year, has caused concern among some politicians that it will exacerbate cultural tensions, while others maintained a neutral stance of the September 9 general election.

"Call to prayer will not strengthen integration in the southern city of Vaxjo, but it will rather risk pulling the city further apart," city council Anna Tenje of the conservative Moderates told TT news agency.

But Sweden’s Social Democrats Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said that ending segregation goes hand in hand with tackling unemployment and making sure schools and neighbourhoods have high standards.

"The entire society in Sweden is built on having different religions," he told TT. According to a poll conducted by the social research company SIFO and published by the private broadcaster TV4 in March, 60 percent of respondents said they wanted to ban the Islamic call to prayer from mosques in Sweden.