Kenyan police warn of militant attacks in Mombasa over slain cleric
By Joseph Akwiri
MOMBASA, Kenya | Thu Aug 22, 2013 3:21pm EDT
(Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked militants may be planning attacks in the Kenyan
port city of Mombasa to mark the anniversary of the assassination of a
Muslim cleric, police said on Thursday.
Mombasa, which is Kenya's second-largest city and lies on the Indian Ocean
coast, is a magnet for tourists and a trade gateway to the east and central
African region.
Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo, accused by the Kenyan government and the United
States of helping Islamist al Shabaab militants in Somalia, was killed on
August 27 last year when unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets into his car.
His killing sparked days of deadly riots in the city, where about 70 percent
of residents are Muslim.
Police, who have not yet arrested the cleric's killers, said that al Shabaab
may be planning to mark the anniversary of his death with violence.
"We have received intelligence information and are aware of threats by the
al Shabaab terrorist network to launch attacks in sections of Mombasa city,
to commemorate the killing of Sheikh Aboud Rogo last year," Robert Kitur,
Mombasa county police chief, told Reuters.
"We are specifically alert about next week because that is when it will be
exactly one year since his killing."
Kitur said security had been beefed up in the city, and that police had
banned demonstrations to mark Rogo's death by his supporters.
Mombasa hosts the region's sole oil refinery, and its airport was
temporarily used by international flights diverted from the region's main
airport in Nairobi after the arrivals terminal was gutted in a fierce
inferno in early August.
Kenyan troops entered Somalia two years ago to try to root out al Shabaab,
which had been blamed for attacks in Kenya, triggering apparent revenge
grenade and gun attacks in Mombasa, the capital Nairobi and frontier towns
last year.
The riots that followed Rogo's death exposed deep social, political and
sectarian divides in Mombasa and the coastal region. The government said the
violence was organized by Kenya's "enemies" and blamed Muslim radicals for
supporting al Shabaab.
Many Muslims blamed the authorities for the cleric's killing, and said it
was part of a campaign against their community and faith.
(Reporting by Joseph Akwiri; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Pravin
Char)
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Received on Thu Aug 22 2013 - 17:58:52 EDT