A Belgian mosque leader was killed on 12th March 2012 as he tried to save a worshipper set alight in a brutal petrol bomb attack.

Father-of-four Abdullah Dadou, 46, died from smoke inhalation after a man burst into a Shiite mosque in the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht at 7pm, pulled out a knife and axe, poured petrol over the floor and then set it alight.

He then shouted Sunni slogans – sparking speculation that the attack was linked to tensions between them and the Shiites.

Worshippers detained him and locked him in a room before he was arrested.

But Adbullah failed to escape, and remained trapped in the blaze.

No other people are being sought in connection with the attack, which also injured one other person.

Anxious: People wait in the street after the petrol bomb attack. A witness saw a man setting fire to the mosque in Anderlecht, killing the mosque's imam Sheik Abdullah and injuring another person.

As investigators sought to determine whether the arson attack was an isolated incident or a deliberate assault on the Shiite community, Belgium’s Interior Minister Joelle Milquet suggested inter-religious strife may be to blame.

She said: ‘This person went in (the mosque) hurling statements linked to the Syrian conflict. It appears to be a problem between Sunnis and Shiites.

‘Belgium will not tolerate this type of act and the importing of this type of conflict on its territory.’

Islam’s Sunni and Shiite movements have fuelled violence in several Muslim countries, from Iraq to Yemen and Pakistan.

It is not yet clear why the man attacked the mosque, but some local people said he was a “Salafist”.