BANGUI IMAM CLAIMS FRENCH KILLED 3 MUSLIMS
Bangui, 20 Shafar 1435/23 December 2013 (MINA) -An imam in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), claimed on Sunday that French troops had killed three Muslims.
Isa Hassan, the imam of Masjid Al Noor in Kilometer 5, claimed French soldiers had shot all three men through the head.
He said the men were all shot Sunday close to Kilometer 5, a predominantly Muslim neighborhood of the capital Bangui.
The chairman of the committee supervising the mosque, Yahiya Abu Bakr, repeated the same accusation.
“The French did this, everyone knows,” he told AA quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
“I have covered the heads with plastic bags as they were all shot in the head,” he said. “The bags are holding the heads together.”
People standing around the local mosque repeated his version of events, although the French were not immediately available for comment.
AA asked the crowd if anyone had seen the French actually shoot the men, everyone suggested that they had seen it.
AA reporter saw four bodies inside the mosque, including one in military fatigues.
At least two of the bodies had their heads wrapped with plastic bags.
The fourth body was reportedly of a local imam allegedly killed by the self-styled Christian militia known as anti-balaka.
The French military press officer in Bangui has not responded to our repeated calls and text message until the filing of this report.
In a report issued Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) it described the anti-balaka militias as “local vigilantes and soldiers loyal to the previous government.”
It accused the Christian militia of perpetrating a number of recent “atrocities” against Muslim communities.
CAR, a mineral-rich landlocked country, descended into anarchy in March, when Seleka rebels – said to be mostly Muslims – ousted Christian President François Bozize, who had assumed power in a 2003 coup.
CAR is blessed with different types of minerals such as Uranium, Gold, diamond and copper, among others.
However, the country is described as one of the world’s least developed with an estimated per capita income of $800.
France has deployed nearly 1,600 troops under a UN mandate to restore security in its former colony. (T/P09/P04).
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
