SHKODER, Albania, March 29 (Reuters) ? Muslims in Shkoder, in northern Albania, are opposing plans to erect a statue to the Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian who is in
line for elevation to sainthood by the Vatican.
The dispute is unusual for Albania, where religion was banned for 27 years under the dictator Enver Hoxha and where religious harmony and mixed marriages are the norm.
Seventy percent of the population are liberal Muslims, and the rest are Christian Orthodox and Catholic.
But Muslim groups in Shkoder rejected the local council's plan for a statue of Teresa, saying it "would offend the feelings of Muslims."
"We do not want this statue to be erected in a public place because we see her as a religious figure," said Bashkim Bajraktari, Shkoder's mufti, or Muslim religious leader. "If there must be a statue, let it be in a Catholic space."
Several residents said they felt
that there was an underground effort to treat Shkoder as a Catholic town, ignoring its majority
Muslim community. Shkoder's Muslims recently protested against placement of crosses on prominent hilltops.