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Muslims Clash With Police In Nairobi
NAIROBI (AFP) - Thousands of young Muslims clashed with police on Friday in a southeastern district of Nairobi, from where a huge pall of smoke from a burning church could be seen rising.
The unrest came a day after one person died and a mosque was burnt down during fierce fighting in the same area between Muslim and Christian traders.
On Friday, the police used tear gas against the youths, who were armed with sticks and stones and were shouting, "Allah is greatest".
One person in the crowd said: "They burnt our mosque yesterday, today we will burn them."
Violence erupted on Thursday when Muslims tried to evict stall owners from a plot of land next to the mosque.
Church sources in the area said the Roman Catholic Queen of Peace church, which lies next to a petrol station, had also been torched.
Only the smoldering outer walls of the church were left standing after the blaze had died down, witnesses said.
"Muslims were pouring in [to the church] from everywhere. The situation is pretty bad," a nun who had been in touch with people at the church said.
She added that the fire brigade was unable to reach the area immediately because the fire fighters needed a police escort.
Some Muslims in the crowd distanced themselves from the violence, attributing it to "hooligans."
Anglican archbishop David Gitari, who was beaten and robbed when he tried to visit the violence-hit area accompanied by several Muslim leaders, appealed for calm and accused the police of allowing the violence to escalate.
"I was appalled by the inactivity of the police. If they represent the government, then the government has failed," Gitari told a news conference.
Gitari, who sustained a head injury when he was hit with a stone and had his car extensively damaged, said his attackers were "Muslim youths acting without the authority of their leaders".
In the Indian Ocean coastal city of Mombasa, police prevented Muslims protesting against the burning of the mosque in Nairobi from torching a church there.
Islamic teachers led by influential Sheikh Ali Shee, told journalists that Muslims were angry because the government had failed to protect the mosque.
"It will be an eye for an eye situation with Christians if this desecration of our prayer houses shall continue", said Sheikh Shee.
"The government is to blame for the tense situation even if the real cause was land and not religious differences," said Sheikh Rishard Amana, a Muslim elder in this Muslim majority city.
During Thursday's incidents in Nairobi, shops and a nightclub were also burnt.
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