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Swedish police grants mosque permission to sound call to prayer

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE - This is a Sept. 27, 2012 file photo of the Fittja mosque in suburban Stockholm which could become the first in Sweden to sound prayer calls from its minaret after police gave the green light. A Turkish Islamic association in the suburb of Fittja wants to use loudspeakers to sound the Islamic call to prayer at midday on Fridays. (AP Photo/Jessica Gow, File) ** SWEDEN OUT ** (The Associated Press)

FILE - This is a Sept. 27, 2012 file photo of the Fittja mosque in suburban Stockholm which could become the first in Sweden to sound prayer calls from its minaret after police gave the green light. A Turkish Islamic association in the suburb of Fittja wants to use loudspeakers to sound the Islamic call to prayer at midday on Fridays. (AP Photo/Jessica Gow, File) ** SWEDEN OUT ** (The Associated Press)

A mosque in suburban Stockholm could become the first in Sweden to sound prayer calls from its minaret after getting permission from police.

A Turkish Islamic association in the suburb of Fittja wants to use loudspeakers to sound the Islamic call to prayer at midday on Fridays.

Stockholm police on Thursday approved the group's application, but said it must inform residents living within a 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) radius of the mosque before it starts to use the loudspeakers. The decision can be appealed by local residents.

Though there are mosques in all major cities in Sweden, the one in Fittja, where many residents are immigrants from Muslim countries, was the first to request permission for prayer calls.