Masked gunmen stormed a mosque Wednesday in western Somalia, killing at least five Pakistani Muslim clerics in a country already bloodied by an Islamic insurgency and where al-Qaida is believed to be gaining a foothold. Authorities tried to find out who carried out the execution-style murders, and why.
The victims belonged to the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told The Associated Press in Islamabad. Some extremists, including shoe bomber Richard Reid, have been linked to the group but Tablighi Jamaat is believed to be apolitical and nonviolent. Some of its members travel the world, preaching to fellow Muslims.
"They have almost a rule of not discussing politics. They prefer to avoid it," said Ghaffar Hussain of Quilliam Foundation, a London-based think tank. "Their stance is quite conservative, quite puritanical. But they themselves are not ... extremist."
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Associated Press Writer
AP
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