Monday, May 6, 2013

Tanzania church attack: Saudi Muslims held for 'act of terror'

 

Tanzania church attack: Saudis held for 'act of terror'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22425364?print=true

 

Eight people - including four Saudi nationals - have been arrested over an

explosion that killed two people at a church in the northern Tanzanian city

of Arusha on Sunday, police say.

 

President Jakaya Kikwete condemned the blast as an "act of terrorism".

 

No group has said it was behind the explosion, which left at least 50 people

wounded.

 

Militant attacks are relatively rare in Tanzania, unlike neighbouring Kenya

and Somalia.

 

Al-Qaeda-linked suicide bombers killed more than 200 people in simultaneous

attacks in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.

 

Tanzania has seen a rise in sectarian violence between Christians and

Muslims in the past year.

 

There are no official records of religious affiliation in Tanzania so it is

not clear whether Muslims or Christians form the majority.

 

Arusha regional police commissioner Liberatus Sabas told the BBC that eight

people - four Saudis and four Tanzanians - had been arrested, as

investigations continue into the blast.

 

The explosion occurred at the official opening of the new Roman Catholic

church in the suburb of Olasiti in Arusha, which is mainly Christian.

 

The Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania and the archbishop of Arusha were

attending, but were not hurt.

 

Eyewitnesses said a bomb had been thrown from a motorcycle, AP news agency

reports.

 

The attack happened despite heavy security presence in the area.

 

Mr Kikwete said he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the blast.

 

"We are ready to deal with all criminals, including terrorists and their

agents, who are based in the country or externally," he added.

 

Last month, police in southern Tanzania used teargas to disperse about 200

Christian rioters attempting to set fire to a mosque following a dispute

over animal slaughtering.

 

In February, a Catholic priest was shot in the head on the largely Muslim

island of Zanzibar.

 

Last year Muslim cleric Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda was arrested over attacks on

churches, following rumours that a Christian boy had urinated on a copy of

the Koran.

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