CE Offers Apology At Water Cannon-hit Mosque

Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Police Commissioner Stephen Lo visited Kowloon Mosque on Monday morning and offered apologies, a day after the front of the site on Nathan Road was sprayed with blue dye from a police water cannon.

The statement issued by CE's office said Lam and the police chief met the mosque representatives over the "unintentional use of dyed water" and offered apologies.

The pair, flanked by a number of police officers, had visited the mosque for a meeting with chief imam Muhammad Arshad.

After the brief talks, Arshad and fellow Muslim leaders Zoheir Tyebkhan and Saeed Uddin said Lam and Lo had both apologised for the incident and had described it as a mistake.

On Sunday, the police had said that they were targeting "rioters" and it was "most unfortunate that the dispersal operation has caused unintended impact on the Kowloon Mosque".

But the mosque officials said Lam and Lo had conceded that there was hardly anyone in the area at the time and there was no reason for the water cannon to be fired.

Tyebkhan said they had accepted the apologies offered by the CE and police chief.

Protesters had been keen to make sure that the mosque was not targeted during Sunday's massive demonstration in Tsim Sha Tsui, over fears it could be attacked following the beating of Civil Human Rights Front convenor Jimmy Sham last week, allegedly by several non-ethnic Chinese people.

A number of people had helped clean the blue dye off the gates and the building's entrance on Sunday.

_____________________________