helpforhomeschoolers
Advanced Member
Member # 15
|
posted
I dont know if this happened anywhere near where our Nigerian brother, TimSpong, is but he came immediately to my mind as I read this, so please let us hold him up in prayer that he is safe and strong in the Lord, as it is a tough time to be a Christian in the world.
Sun, February 19, 2006
Protests over cartoons kill 15Christians beaten, churches burned
By AP
Student paper refuses to yank cartoon
Protester's sign reflects how deeply the issue of depictions of Muhammad is felt among Muslims. (EDMOND TERAKOPIAN AP)
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- Nigerian Muslims protesting against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches yesterday in violence that left at least 15 people dead, police and residents said.
Troops and police reinforcements were deployed to restore order in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where 15 Christian churches were burned, said Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi.
Chima Ezeoke, a Maiduguri resident, said the protesters attacked and looted shops in the city owned by minority Christians, most of them with origins in the country's south.
"Most of the dead were Christians beaten to death on the streets by the rioters," Ezeoke said.
DIVIDED
Nigeria, Africa's most-populous country with more than 130 million people, is roughly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.
Libya suspended its interior minister yesterday, citing an "excessive use of force" in riots the day before that left at least 10 people dead in protests against the cartoons.
The controversy claimed another political casualty in Italy, as Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli offered his resignation after wearing a T-shirt featuring the drawings, a provocative move blamed for Friday's protests at the Italian consulate in the Libyan city Benghazi, in which at least 10 people were killed.
In eastern Pakistan, police opened fire on a mob trying to burn down shops, the latest in a spate of cartoon protests that have killed five people in the conservative country. At least four people were injured in the city Chaniot, said police officer Mohammad Ishaq.
In London, more than 10,000 people joined an angry but peaceful protest against the drawings. "Free speech cheap insults," read some placards.
"How dare you insult the blessed Prophet Muhammad?" asked another.
Pakistani authorities, meanwhile, imposed a ban on rallies in Islamabad ahead of a planned protest against the cartoons, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.
Also yesterday, about 1,000 Muslims protested peacefully in Indian-controlled Kashmir, carrying banners reading: "We love our Prophet" and "Down with enemies of Islam."
Libya's parliamentary secretariat announced the suspension of Interior Minister Nasr al-Mabrouk and said all those involved in Friday's riots "and the officials responsible for them" should be referred to investigations and to the courts.
"We condemn the excessive use of force and the inappropriate way that went beyond the limits of carrying out the duties of the police," the secretariat said in a statement.
It also declared today a day of mourning for "our martyr sons."
Libyan security officials said 11 people were killed or wounded during the riot in the eastern city when police firing bullets and tear gas tried to contain more than 1,000 demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles. The casualties included police officers.
Rioters charged the consular compound and set fire to the first floor of the building, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
REACTION TO T-SHIRT
Domenico Bellantone, an Italian diplomat, said 10 or 11 people -- all Libyan -- had died.
The riot appeared to be a reaction to Calderoli's decision to wear a T-shirt printed with the cartoons. His declaration that he would do so was widely published in Libya.
Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, wore the T-shirt beneath a suit Friday and showed it off during an appearance on television. Hours later, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi asked for his resignation.
Calderoli said yesterday he had agreed to offer his resignation to stop "the shameful exploitation which in these hours has been directed against me," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
There was no demonstration outside the Italian Embassy in Tripoli, a possible indication of greater state control in the capital. Politics is tightly controlled in Libya -- a former Italian colony -- and open dissent is rare.
The Italian ambassador to Tripoli met late Friday with the Libyan interior minister "who expressed the condemnation of his government for the acts of violence occurring in Benghazi," the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
In London, demonstrators carried placards reading: "Europe lacks respect for others" and "Don't they teach manners in Denmark?"
Next story: Hopes fade for survivors of landslide
*************************************************
Last Updated: Saturday, 18 February 2006, 23:20 GMT
Nigeria cartoon protests kill 16
At least 16 people have been killed in northern Nigeria during protests by Muslims over the cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.
Most of the deaths occurred in rioting in Maiduguri, capital of north-eastern Borno state. One person died in similar riots in north-central Katsina state.
Witnesses said most of the dead were from Maiduguri's minority Christians. Eleven churches were also torched.
These are the first violent protests over the cartoons in Nigeria.
The country is nearly equally split between Muslims in the north and Christians.
Christian leaders in the north of the country had been quick to denounce the publication of the cartoons when the worldwide furore over them first started.
Set alight
The BBC's Alex Last in northern Nigeria says the protest had begun peacefully in Maiduguri, and it was not clear what started the violence.
The city's residents described demonstrators running wild after police tried to disperse the protest with teargas.
CARTOON ROW
30 Sept 2005: Danish paper publishes cartoons
20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM
10 Jan 2006: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons
26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador
31 Jan: Danish paper apologises
1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons
4-5 Feb: Danish embassies in Damascus and Beirut attacked
6-12 Feb: Twelve killed in Afghanistan as security forces try to suppress protests
13-18 Feb: Five killed as protests break out across Pakistan
17 Feb: Ten killed in Libya as protesters target the Italian consulate in Benghazi
Timeline of the row
How can row be resolved?
Crowds of protesters carried machetes, sticks and iron rods through the city centre, the Associated Press news agency reported.
One group threw a tyre around one man, poured gas on him and set him ablaze, it said.
"At least 10 churches, some hotels, more than 20 shops and over 10 vehicles were burned by the protesters," one resident told Reuters news agency by telephone.
Christian leader Joseph Hayab told the agency most of those who died were Christians.
"The Muslim group came out to protest and the security forces tried to ensure it was peaceful, but there were some hoodlums in the crowd and somehow the security forces shot one or two of them," said Mr Hayab.
"They went on the rampage, burning shops and churches of the Christians. The protesters killed the others. Some were even killed in the churches."
Violent clashes
Soldiers have been deployed and a curfew imposed, police say. Around 115 people were arrested in Maiduguri and 105 in Katsina.
Borno state governor Modu Sheriff said the state "was shocked and disgusted" by "the civil disturbance" in Maiduguri.
Nigeria has witnessed sectarian violence in the past, and the concern now is that the violence does not spread to other cities, our correspondent says.
The cartoons, first published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September, have angered Muslims across the world and sparked sometimes violent protests.
In Libya, at least 10 people died in clashes with police outside an Italian mission on Friday, during a rally over an Italian minister's decision to put the cartoons on T-shirts.
The minister, Roberto Calderoli has resigned, and Libya's interior minister has been suspended as the country investigates the violence.
The cartoons, which have since been reprinted by several other European publications, include an image portraying Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.
Islamic tradition strictly prohibits any depiction of Allah or the Prophet.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged | 
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
