Plans to build a Moslem mosque and community center here, the first of its kind in the United States, were announced today by the International Islamic Association. The mosque and center will serve Moslem soldiers being trained at U.S. military bases nearby.
According to Ahmed Rafiq, a 38-year-old Palestinian representing the International Islamic Association of Mecca, there are 1400 Moslems from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and other Moslem countries living here, and 3000 additional Moslems living nearby. He said that hundreds of Moslems are being trained at local military bases. The proposed center will have its own religious leader, a meeting hall, library and residential quarters. Rafiq did not disclose the cost of the facility.
Official sources maintained their usual stance of refusing to comment about training personnel from such Moslem states as Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. San Antonio is the site of the Alamo, an historic fortress that a Saudi Arabian sheikh recently offered to buy as a present for his son.
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