Manama: Muslim groups clashed inside a mosque in Kuwait over the merit of holding a "funeral prayer" for Osama Bin Laden.
According to Al Anba daily, around 120 people wanted to hold the prayers inside the Ihsan Mosque on Monday afternoon, but were prevented by the imam who said that he needed a special permission.
However, the group of people who said they wanted to honour Bin Laden pushed him aside and performed the short prayers.
The imam had to interfere again when a member of the pro-Bin Laden group grabbed the microphone to deliver an eulogy and insisted that no speech could be given at the mosque without proper approval.
However, the group started to beat the imam who was rescued by worshippers at the mosque.
He later produced a certificate from a nearby hospital proving that he had been injured during the melee.
One assailant, arrested by the police monitoring developments at the mosque, will face charges of abusing an employee on duty, the daily said.
Mubarak Al Badhali, the activist who reportedly led the funeral group, said that funeral prayers were to honour "a Muslim who had been killed by disbelievers." He rejected claims of gross misconduct at a sacred site.
"Our intention was peaceful and we wanted to perform the funeral prayers and leave," he said. "However, the imam has caused all the chaos by attempting to prevent the prayers and the eulogy in a provocative way," he said.
