ROTTERDAM, 16/08/03 - The Rotterdam city council executive has postponed the construction of the Essalam Mosque. The design of the immense building, intended to be the largest mosque in Europe, is too Arabic and must be modified.

The Moroccan mosque was to have 50-meter minarets tall and a dome 25 meters tall. The city council considered the style too Arabic and possibly offensive to non-Moslems. The house of prayer must have a modern appearance and thus become a "Model of integration," in the view of Physical Planning Alderman Pastors.

Pastors said on Friday that the Essalam foundation was prepared to comply with the council's wishes. "The mosque management have made a grand gesture. I am pleased that they have shown respect for the changing views of society relating to the integration of people from a traditional Moslem culture," he said.

The agreement means that the signing of the land exchange contract has been postponed. The giant mosque will replace the Essalam foundation's smaller house of prayer. The land on which the old mosque stands will revert to the local authority, and the foundation will become the owner of the land at the new location.

The financier of the mosque, a sheikh from the United Arab Emirates, was originally to sign the contract before 31 August. The city council pressed him for speed at the beginning of July as the signature had not yet been given. Now, the two parties will examine the new blueprints on 21 October.

The Essalam Mosque has been controversial for some time. Alderman Pastors' Liveable Rotterdam, the largest party on the Rotterdam council, was particularly opposing the advent of the house of prayer.