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Kenyan Muslim Cleric Shot Dead, Unrest Feared
By Katie Harris / London Oct. 04, 20131 Comment
Gunmen in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa shot dead a popular Muslim cleric who preached at a mosque linked in the past to Somali Islamist militants, police said on Friday, Reuters reports.
Ibrahim Omar and three other people were shot as they drove home on Thursday night after preaching, the BBC says. The apparent assassination comes amid rising tensions between the Muslim community and the security forces, heightened by the recent killing of more than 60 people in an attack on a Nairobi shopping mall claimed by Somalias al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab.
The shooting took place late on Thursday night just a few hundred meters from where another firebrand cleric, Aboud Rogo, was shot dead in his vehicle in August 2012 in a strikingly similar attack, says Reuters. The killing of Rogo, who was also linked to al Shabab by both the Kenyan government and the U.S., unleashed deadly riots in Mombasas run-down neighborhoods where he commanded a loyal support base, Reuters adds.
The police in Mombasa have denied allegations that the clerics are victims of extra-judicial killings by Kenyan security forces. The police have nothing to do with the shooting. Thats not how we operate, said the Mombasa County Police Commander, Robert Kitur, according to Reuters.
There are fears of unrest in Mombasa after Friday prayers. On Friday morning, anti-riot police patrolled Mombasas Majengo neighborhood, home to a mosque where Omar gave sermons, and many businesses remained shut, reports Reuters.
Read more: Kenyan Muslim Cleric Shot Dead, Unrest Feared | TIME.com
Church torched in Mombasa as violence flares after killing of cleric
By Our Foreign Staff12:29PM BST 04 Oct 2013
Angry protesters took to the streets on Friday after the death of Sheikh Ibrahim Omar, the preacher at a mosque associated with the group behind the Nairobi mall attack. He was killed with three others when gunman attacked their vehicle on Thursday night and locals have blamed the apparent assassination on security forces waging a campaign against militants in the wake of the Westgate tragedy.
At least four people were wounded, including two hit by gunfire, as armed paramilitary police moved towards the mosque on Friday afternoon, AFP reported.
"They have burnt the Salvation Army church and we are now trying to repulse them with tear gas," a senior police officer said.
Police have denied any involvement in the death of the cleric. Sheikh Omar was killed a few hundred yards from the spot where Aboud Rogo, another radical preacher and his predecessor at the mosque, died in similar circumstances almost exactly a year earlier. That assassination sparked several days of deadly violence.
In September, Kenyan newspaper The Standard cited a report by the country's National Intelligence Service which alleged that an al-Shabaab cell had been activated in Mombasa with a mission to strike targets there and in Nairobi to mark the anniversary of Aboud Rogo's death.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault on Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi which caused at least 60 deaths and amounted to the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya for 15 years.
The Muslim population of the Kenyan coast has become increasingly radicalised in recent years. Al-Shabaab is known to attract funding and recruits from the area.
Local people believe that state-sponsored assassinations are common. "They have killed Muslims again," said Sheikh Abubaker Sharif, who was close to Rogo and Omar, and faces charges of inciting last year's Mombasa riots. "We know it's the police."
But Robert Kitur, the Mombasa police chief, said his force had “nothing to do with the shooting,” telling journalists: “That's not how we operate”.
He warned against engaging in street violence, saying: "We know there are people who will want to take advantage of the situation to engage in criminal activity like riots but we are warning them not to dare because we shall deal with them," he said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/10355842/Church-torched-in-Mombasa-as-violence-flares-after-killing-of-cleric.html
By Katie Harris / London Oct. 04, 20131 Comment
Gunmen in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa shot dead a popular Muslim cleric who preached at a mosque linked in the past to Somali Islamist militants, police said on Friday, Reuters reports.
Ibrahim Omar and three other people were shot as they drove home on Thursday night after preaching, the BBC says. The apparent assassination comes amid rising tensions between the Muslim community and the security forces, heightened by the recent killing of more than 60 people in an attack on a Nairobi shopping mall claimed by Somalias al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab.
The shooting took place late on Thursday night just a few hundred meters from where another firebrand cleric, Aboud Rogo, was shot dead in his vehicle in August 2012 in a strikingly similar attack, says Reuters. The killing of Rogo, who was also linked to al Shabab by both the Kenyan government and the U.S., unleashed deadly riots in Mombasas run-down neighborhoods where he commanded a loyal support base, Reuters adds.
The police in Mombasa have denied allegations that the clerics are victims of extra-judicial killings by Kenyan security forces. The police have nothing to do with the shooting. Thats not how we operate, said the Mombasa County Police Commander, Robert Kitur, according to Reuters.
There are fears of unrest in Mombasa after Friday prayers. On Friday morning, anti-riot police patrolled Mombasas Majengo neighborhood, home to a mosque where Omar gave sermons, and many businesses remained shut, reports Reuters.
Read more: Kenyan Muslim Cleric Shot Dead, Unrest Feared | TIME.com
Church torched in Mombasa as violence flares after killing of cleric
By Our Foreign Staff12:29PM BST 04 Oct 2013
Angry protesters took to the streets on Friday after the death of Sheikh Ibrahim Omar, the preacher at a mosque associated with the group behind the Nairobi mall attack. He was killed with three others when gunman attacked their vehicle on Thursday night and locals have blamed the apparent assassination on security forces waging a campaign against militants in the wake of the Westgate tragedy.
At least four people were wounded, including two hit by gunfire, as armed paramilitary police moved towards the mosque on Friday afternoon, AFP reported.
"They have burnt the Salvation Army church and we are now trying to repulse them with tear gas," a senior police officer said.
Police have denied any involvement in the death of the cleric. Sheikh Omar was killed a few hundred yards from the spot where Aboud Rogo, another radical preacher and his predecessor at the mosque, died in similar circumstances almost exactly a year earlier. That assassination sparked several days of deadly violence.
In September, Kenyan newspaper The Standard cited a report by the country's National Intelligence Service which alleged that an al-Shabaab cell had been activated in Mombasa with a mission to strike targets there and in Nairobi to mark the anniversary of Aboud Rogo's death.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault on Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi which caused at least 60 deaths and amounted to the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya for 15 years.
The Muslim population of the Kenyan coast has become increasingly radicalised in recent years. Al-Shabaab is known to attract funding and recruits from the area.
Local people believe that state-sponsored assassinations are common. "They have killed Muslims again," said Sheikh Abubaker Sharif, who was close to Rogo and Omar, and faces charges of inciting last year's Mombasa riots. "We know it's the police."
But Robert Kitur, the Mombasa police chief, said his force had “nothing to do with the shooting,” telling journalists: “That's not how we operate”.
He warned against engaging in street violence, saying: "We know there are people who will want to take advantage of the situation to engage in criminal activity like riots but we are warning them not to dare because we shall deal with them," he said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/10355842/Church-torched-in-Mombasa-as-violence-flares-after-killing-of-cleric.html
