With only about 300 Muslims in all of Nicaragua, a new mosque became an instant mystery. How did this religious building spring up recently in a residential neighborhood, and who paid for it?

According to the Wall Street Journal, "the ever-present Managua rumor-mill quickly turned to the government of Iran. Its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Muslim, and Nicaraguan leftist leader, Daniel Ortega, a Catholic, say they share a revolutionary kinship. As part of a grandiose effort to show that Iran is a global superpower, Mr. Ahmadinejad and his government promised in 2007 and 2008 to invest up to $1 billion in this impoverished country of 5.7 million, including a new city and deep-water port in a remote jungle on the Atlantic Coast."

Nevertheless, local Nicaraguan officials haven't heard a word on the port project ever since an Iranian-led delegation was confronted by angry villagers 18 months ago. Actually, nearly none of the other announced investments have materialized.

As reported by the Journal, "the geographical chatter surrounding the gold-domed mosque, which opened in September after more than a year of construction, continues. "Did Iran put up the money? That's the question everyone asks," says Ismat Khatib, a native Nicaraguan lawyer and businessman who is of Palestinian descent. One Managua-based diplomat says it is believed Iran subsidized it."

Yet, Mr. Khatib, who is treasurer of the Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Association, which oversees the mosque, claims that the Iranian government did not contribute a single cordoba. As a matter of fact, he reveals the only thing it actually pledged to donate was a large, special rug for the mosque's prayer room, but it has not yet arrived.

The Journal reports that, "Muslims, particularly Palestinians, have been emigrating to Nicaragua for decades and have established a number of businesses here, especially in the fabric trade. But because their numbers are so small, their faith remains foreign to most Nicaraguans, who are largely Catholic or evangelical Christian. Many here refer to all Muslim or Middle Easterners as Turks, and seem to know next to nothing about their religious beliefs."

To read the entire article from the Wall Street Journal, link here:

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