Muslim faithfuls chant slogans during a protest against the
killing of Sheikh Aboud Rogo Mohammed, after Friday prayers at the
Masjid Mussa Mosque in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, August 31,
2012. The August 27, 2012 killing of the Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo
Mohammed, accused by the United States of helping al Qaeda-linked
Islamist militants in Somalia, triggered riots and violence in which
five people, including three police officers, were killed.
REUTERS/Joseph Okanga (KENYA - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION CRIME LAW CIVIL
UNREST)
Image by:
Joseph Okanga / REUTERS
Times LIVE
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
The assassination of a Muslim cleric in Mombasa, Kenya, and ensuing deadly riots have exposed deep social, political and sectarian divides that could unleash more violence ahead of next year's presidential poll.
Gunmen sprayed bullets into the car of Aboud Rogo on Monday last
week, killing him. B oth Kenya and the U S had accused him of helping
al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in Somalia.
Rogo's supporters fought running street battles with the security
forces shortly after his death, and sporadic violence continued in the
days that followed.
Churches were torched and two grenades were tossed at police vans. At least five people have been killed.
The government blamed the violence on Kenya's ''enemies'' and Muslim
radicals for supporting al-Shabab, the Islamists that Kenya's military
has been battling since invading Somalia last year.
Muslims, who dominate many neighbourhoods of Kenya's second-largest
city, have blamed the authorities for the cleric's killing, saying it
was part of a campaign against their faith.
They said the spontaneous outpouring of fury was a natural response,
both to the assassination and decades of political and economic
marginalisation.
''Incited? I don't need to be incited to riot when I have eyes to see
my sheikh has been killed by the government," said Otieno Ramadhan, 25.
''We the youth from the coast don't have anything to show, no jobs.
Yet other people get employed daily at the port. All they have brought
us here is drugs to kill us slowly,'' he said.
''I will riot. They can shoot us dead if they wish.''
Rogo had built up a loyal base of supporters in parts of Mombasa, with many of his sermons posted online and on social media.
The riots broke out as word of the killing spread through Kisauni and another neighbourhood, Majengo, Rogo's own backyard.
''The sheikh challenged us to be real Muslims, by word and deed,
ready to do anything to defend our religion, even die,'' said the
27-year-old butcher.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga said it was clear the violent reaction to
Rogo's killing was organised. He blamed the country's enemies for
seeking to ''create religious animosity''.
''Why deliberately attack churches? That must be part of an organised reaction. Where did the grenades come from?
"It confirms our worst fears that there is a serious underground organisation conducting this,'' Odinga said this week.