The Kuwaiti news agency has announced that Kuwait’s Zakat House has donated $140,000 to the an Islamic cultural center in Switzerland in order to fund the construction of a center for raising awareness about Islam. According to the KUNA report:
June 20, 2014 Geneva, (KUNA) — Kuwait’s Zakat House has donated USD 140,000 to the Islamic cultural center in Switzerland to fund building a center for raising awareness about Islam. Kuwaiti Ambassador to Switzerland Bader Al-Tunaib presented the donation to head of the Islamic Cultural center in Switzerland Dr. Mohammad Karmous. The Kuwaiti diplomat told KUNA, Friday, that the donation comes in line with Kuwait’s philanthropic support to Muslims, not only in Switzerland but also in many parts of the world. An estimated 450,000 Muslims, mostly Turks, Bosniaks and Albanians, are living in Switzerland. They are well integrated with the Swiss society.
Mohammad Karmous, whose CV indicates that he is an electrical engineer, has multiple ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Switzerland including:
- Swiss company records list Dr. Karmous as the former President of the Ligue des Musulmans de Suisse (LMS), the Swiss member organization of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), in turn representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe.
- Swiss company records list Dr. Karmous as the current President of the Centre SocioCulturel des Musulmans de Lausanne (C.C.M.L.) which, according to its website, is a member of the LMS and is likely the organization referred to in the KUNA report.
- UK company records list Dr. Karmous as a former director of the HIghmead Foundation, associated with the European Institute for Human Sciences (EIHS), a part of FIOE.
In December 2003, Swiss media reported that Dr. Karmous was involved with plans to establish a large Islamic “Sociocultural Center” in an unoccupied structure in East Lausanne. The facility was to include worship facilities for 120 people, a Ramadan festival room for 300 people, library, classrooms and conference rooms. Neighborhood residents were opposing the construction on the grounds that the center did not comply with regional planning. According to the report, 1.75 million Swiss France’s of a purchase price of 2 million had not been paid due to reluctance on the part of Saudi and Gulf donors following 911. (See Note 1)
The Kuwaiti Zakat House is known to have been a member of the Union of Good, a worldwide coalition of charities headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi that helps to raise funds for Hamas.
Note 1: “Comment l’islam prend ses quartiers en Suisse romande” Le Temps December 5, 2003