India Jewish community to rebuild Mumbai centre

Mumbai: India's Jewish community, thrown in the spotlight after it was targeted in the Mumbai attacks, will rebuild the damaged Chabad-Lubavitch centre, the group's country head said on Monday.

Nariman House, which was nearly destroyed in a siege that killed 171 people in Mumbai, including the centre's Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, will be rebuilt and opened again shortly, Dov Goldberg said.

"We are very determined to rebuild because the activities of the Chabad-Lubavitch have to continue and we cannot let this attack stop that," he told reporters.

They would assess the damage as soon as police hand over custody of the building, Goldberg said.

"We will rebuild on the same site for now, and will look to expand the centre and its activities," he said. "Certainly, we will have maximum security."

Nariman House, home to the Mumbai chapter of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish movement, was one of 10 sites attacked by gunmen during a 60-hour siege in the city that began on November 26.

The six-storey house, tucked away in a narrow lane in a bustling market in the Colaba neighbourhood, is a short distance from the luxury hotels and train station that were also attacked.