Posted on 06/28/2003 5:50:24 AM PDT by sarcasm
BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Malawi sent the army in on Saturday to quell a second day of riots by Muslims protesting against the arrest and alleged extradition this week of five suspected members of al Qaeda, police said.
One witness said the rioting in the lakeside resort district of Mangochi, 120 miles northeast of the commercial capital Blantyre, injured at least three people.
``Three people were injured as they tried to protect their personal property,'' Alex Maneno, who works with aid organization Save the Children, told Reuters by telephone.
Six churches and an office belonging to Save the Children Fund were also reported to have been vandalized.
Police Inspector General Joseph Aironi told Reuters 11 people had been arrested and that more arrests were expected.
The protests were ignited by unconfirmed reports that U.S. security officials whisked the five suspects out of the country earlier this week, with the approval of Malawian authorities.
Malawian officials say U.S. security personnel took the five men -- two Turkish, one Saudi, one Kenyan and one Sudanese -- out of the country on Tuesday before they could appear in court.
The U.S. embassy in Malawi initially denied U.S. involvement but has not responded to media inquiries since Tuesday.
Washington blames Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network for several attacks on U.S. targets, including the September 11, 2001 hijacked plane attacks on U.S. cities.
Malawian Muslims were also angered by news the High Court had overturned an injunction lawyers for the five won blocking their deportation -- seen as a strike against al Qaeda ahead of President Bush's visit to Africa next month.
Malawi is a small landlocked southern African country of 10.6 million people with a sizeable Muslim minority. It has never previously been seen as linked to terrorism.
``Our Muslim brothers were marching against the extradition of suspected al Qaeda suspects. We had nothing against their march. But what has amazed us is that they are attacking our churches,'' Father Mathews Likambale of Mangochi Parish told Reuters by telephone.
``They also stopped a Catholic priest who was driving in their direction, pulled him out of the car, overturned it and then torched it. The priest escaped unhurt after being whisked away by sympathizers,'' Likambale said.
The fact that it amazed you amazes me, Father.
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