Mosque next door in dispute with landlord of buildings
By John Futty
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
FRED SQUILLANTE | Dispatch
Mifflin Township firefighters stand outside a building at 3296 Westerville Rd. that was destroyed by fire. The blaze, investigated as arson, engulfed the Somali-owned businesses within, and reportedly none of their owners were insured. No injuries were reported. An accelerant was found around the building. The mosque next door, untouched by flames, is in a dispute with |
Arson is the cause of a blaze that destroyed several businesses in a Westerville Road building early yesterday, investigators said.
"We found an accelerant around the building," Columbus fire Battalion Chief David Whiting said during a news conference outside the gutted structure at 3296 Westerville Rd.
The two-story building, located south of Innis Road in Mifflin Township, contained the Capital Cafe, Islamic Bookstore and Imani Tax Service, all Somali-owned, as well as a vacant banquet hall and three vacant offices.
Masjid Salama, a mosque next door to the building on the same property, was not damaged.
Mohamed Maalim, the operator of the bookstore and tax service, said none of the business operators, all of whom lease space in the building, is insured.
"I don't know who would have done this," he said. "I have no problem with anyone."
The leaders of the mosque are embroiled in a legal dispute with the property manager, who also manages the building that burned.
Mohamed Hassan Adam, who holds the lease for both buildings, filed a civil lawsuit against the mosque's leaders last Tuesday in Franklin County Municipal Court, saying they have occupied the building since August without a valid sublease and haven't paid rent.
Adam's attorney, Raed Khasawneh, said his client isn't trying to get rid of the mosque, just evict the current leaders. Mursal and Fiqi "are trying to control the mosque and exclude some people, dividing the community rather than making it an open place of worship," he said.
No one responded to a voice message left yesterday at the mosque.
A Franklin County deputy sheriff on patrol discovered the fire about 4 a.m. The building was so heavily damaged by the time firefighters arrived that they didn't enter it and concentrated on keeping the fire from spreading, Whiting said.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the state fire marshal's office; and the Columbus and Mifflin Township fire divisions are investigating the blaze. The ATF is investigating because businesses in the building were involved in interstate commerce, said Wayne Dixie, assistant agent in charge of the Columbus field office.
Dispatch reporter Bruce Cadwallader contributed to this story.