The Times Jerome Starkey, Africa Correspondent
The imam had taken barely two steps outside the mosque in Mombasa where he preached when masked gunmen on a motorbike opened fire.
One of the bullets tore through Sheikh Salim Bakari Mwarangi’s hand as he tried in vain to defend himself. Two others hit his stomach, condemning the preacher to a slow and painful death. Police said that Mwarangi, 57, was a pro-government peace activist, an ideological moderate who was most likely killed by extremists in the battle for Mombasa’s soul.
No one has been arrested for Tuesday night’s shooting. The city’s recent history suggests that no one ever will be. At least 22 Muslim clerics have been killed in two years. Most were killed by unknown attackers. (Read more...)
