Imam shot in the head in northern Sweden

A 54-year-old imam was found shot in the head in Strömsund in northwestern Sweden on Wednesday in what police have classified as attempted murder.

Police received a call around 1:30pm on Wednesday afternoon that the man, identified by Sveriges Television (SVT) as Obydkhon Sobitkhony, had been found with gun shot wounds.

“He was shot at least once in the head, but there may have been more shots. He was improving for awhile last night but during the day on Thursday certain complications came up which have made his condition worse,” Östersund police detective Ted Persson told the local Östersunds Posten (ÖP) newspaper on Thursday.

Sobitkhony, who is known by the surname Nazarov, serves as an imam in Strömsund, where he has lived since coming to Sweden in 2006 as a political refugee from Uzbekistan.

He is being treated at hospital in Umeå for what have been described as life threatening injuries.

According to SVT, a gun believed to be used in Wednesday's shooting was found near where Sobitkhony lay and around 30 officers participated in the preliminary investigation by combing the scene for clues and knocking on doors in the vicinity.

“The door knocking as yielded positive results thus far,” Persson told the newspaper.

However, local police have made an appeal to the public for more information about the shooting.

Sobitkhony is a known critic of the regime in Uzbekistan and came to Sweden along with scores of other political refugees after a 2005 crackdown by Uzbek government troops in Andijan in which hundreds of protesters were killed, although the exact number of casualties remains in dispute.

At the time of the incident, known as the Andijan massacre, the Uzbek government claimed the demonstrations were organized by Islamic radicals.

In the wake of the influx of Uzbek refugees, Strömsund, a town of just over 4,000 residents, has seen a rise in hate crimes ranging rom racist graffiti to the burning down of a mosque in the city in 2008.

According to SVT, there were threats against Sobitkhony but, police were unwilling to confirm or deny the existence of threats directed against the imam.

“However, there are threats against other Uzbeks who are currently in Strömsund,” said Persson.

While local police are running the investigation, both Interpol and Swedish security service Säpo have been informed of the incident.

“For the moment, we don't have any suspects, but we do have some forensic evidence,” Persson told ÖP.

This appears to be interpretted by locals as an assassination attempt based on an earlier threat . . .but victim was known to INTERPOL

Sweden's SVT.se posted the following (translated via google)

"Attack against government critics" In Strömsund gathered the Uzbek refugees today - they say that the security they felt in Strömsund in the attack is gone. Attempted assassination see them as an attack on a major government critics
Obydkhon, who came to Sweden and Strömsund in 2006, is a well-known dissident from Uzbekistan. The country is ruled by a harsh dictatorship of President Islam Karimov at the tip.
2005 was the massacre of demonstrators in the country, where even an Islamist guerrillas have fought against the regime.
It is based on data a threat against Obydkhon and he has for some time been under some supervision of SAPO.
****************************
Here is another source, Aftonbladet, again translated w/google ”He was shot by the secret police”
Obidkhon Sobitkhony lives with his family in Strömsund.
1999 called for him by Interpol on suspicion of weapons offenses and terrorism. Sobitkhony denied all criminal charges.
Iman was shot in the head of the gunslingers in Strömsund
A Muslim imam in Strömsund shot in the head yesterday by an unknown perpetrator.
Obidkhon Sobitkhony, 58, survived the attack and are struggling right now for his life in hospital in Umeå.
- He was on his way to the mosque, said a relative.
Obidkhon Sobitkhony, formerly Obidin Nazarov and came to Sweden as a refugee 2006th He now lives in Strömsund in Jämtland with his family.
Yesterday at 13:40 the time police received the alarm about gunfire in central Strömsund. When they arrive they find Obidkhon Sobitkhony in the stairwell, shot in the head.
He was still alive and was flown in the air ambulance to the hospital in Ostersund. He was later transferred to University Hospital in Umeå.
There, watched yesterday's friends and relatives.
- We do not know how he is doing right now, we are waiting to hear, says a friend of Obidkhon.
On the way to the mosque At home in Strömsund also waited on the family news.
- He was going to the mosque when it happened but we do not know how it happened. We are waiting to hear from the police, said a relative.
Police headlining the attack as attempted murder in connection with the crime scene, police found a bag with a handgun that is used in the shooting.
In his native country of Uzbekistan was Obidkhon Sobitkhony a senior religious leaders and government critics. In February 1999 he became an international wanted by Interpol. Uzbek authorities had issued an arrest warrant with a suspicion of weapons violations and terrorism.
Conspired free But he swore to free himself from the accusations and decided a while ago efterlysningen the Interpol removed.
- Muslims are persecuted and government seized, kidnapped and tortured Muslims. The allegations are false, fabricated by the government, said Obidkhon Sobitkhony in an interview with Aftonbladet 2007th
People in the vicinity of the Imam believed that the assassination attempt may be linked to his role as critics of the regime and the Imam.
- It may be that it is the Uzbek secret police behind, says a person close to him.
Police would not comment on any possible motive

I have started reading the series by Henning Mankell

Mankell is a leftwing nutjob. I refuse to read any crap he writes.

In 2009, Mankell was a guest at a Palestinian literary conference. Thereafter, he claimed to have seen "repetition of the despicable Apartheid system that once treated Africans and coloured as second-class citizens in their own country". He also found a resemblance between the Israeli West Bank barrier and the Berlin Wall. Considering the environment the Palestinian people live in, he continued, it is not astonishing that "some decide to become suicide bombers....it is strange that there are not more of them". "The Israelis" would "destroy lives" and the Israeli State is not to have a future in its current form, as a two-state solution would not reverse the "historical occupation". He claimed not to have encountered antisemitism during his journey, just "hatred against the occupants that is completely normal and understandable".[10]

Henning Mankell was on board the MS Sofia, one of the boats which took part in the flotilla which tried to break the Israeli embargo of the Gaza strip.[12] Following the Israel Defence Forces' boarding of the flotilla on the morning of May 31, 2010, Mankell was deported to Sweden. He subsequently called for global sanctions against Israel.[13] He is currently considering halting the Hebrew translations of his books.[14] (wiki)

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