ATHENS, Greece: Greece - a solidly Christian country with a sizeable Muslim community - has spent years debating the establishment of a mosque somewhere in its capital - without success.

A new round of debate on the topic opened this week, with Greek lawmakers discussing whether to reinstate a former mosque in the Athens tourist district of Monastiraki, currently used as a folk art museum.

Attributed to new Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis - who was mayor of Athens until February - the proposal appeared in the Greek press one day before the Council of Europe issued a report bemoaning the lack of sanctioned Muslim prayer sites in Greece.

In his report, the council's Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles said the Greek authorities had not kept a promise to create a mosque in the rural Athens district of Peania ahead of the Athens 2004 Olympics, leaving Muslim believers to still "meet in secret, in locations unsuited to prayer".

"Building a mosque in Peania could take 2-3 years ... but the Monastiraki (building) is ready to go," said pro-opposition Ta Nea daily, which broke the story on March 28.
A lively debate has begun, with both proponents and detractors noting that the proposed site in Monastiraki, built in 1759 during the Ottoman occupation of Greece, is a stone's throw away from the Greek Orthodox Church cathedral in the city centre.