Murder of Islamic Cleric Sparks Riots in Kenya, Church Torched

[abujagirl]

Unknown gunmen in Kenya killed a radical Muslim cleric who had preached a mosque linked in the past to Somali Islamist militants, raising tensions in the port city of Mombasa and leading to an outbreak of riot today.

Sheikh Ibrahim Omar, was murdered alongside three other men in the same car. The shooting took place late on Thursday night, just a few hundred meters (yards) from where another firebrand cleric, Aboud Rogo, was shot dead in his vehicle in August 2012 in a strikingly similar attack.

"This is no doubt a police execution given what has happened in Nairobi," said 37-year-old Abdul Hassan Omar in Mombasa's rundown Majengo district, where Omar and Rogo both preached. "I will be surprised if Muslims do not protest against this".

According to Aljazeera, at least one person has been killed after angry crowds protesting the killing in the Kenyan city of Mombasa.

Rioters have set fire to a church in the area on Friday, Reuters news agency reported. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

"They have burnt the Salvation Army church and we are now trying to repulse them with tear gas," AFP quotes a senior police officer as saying

Local imams have reportedly called for calm.

 

[LequteMan]

Religious beliefs. I believe a bulk of the world's wars have stemmed from religious differences. Imagine how the world would've been if everyone had the same religious convictions and beliefs?

 

[abujagirl]

@Lequte , it wouldn't make a difference, there'll still be extremists

 

[LequteMan]

@Jue How?