Three killed in Mombasa riots

Two Kenyan police officers and a civilian were killed when rioters hurled a grenade at officers in the port city of Mombasa on Tuesday after two days of violence over the killing of a radical Muslim cleric. Mobs of youths had fired at police with machineguns just before throwing the grenade into a police truck, Benedict Kigen, a senior police intelligence officer said.
The riots broke out on Monday after Aboud Rogo, accused by the United States of helping al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in Somalia, was shot dead. Gunmen sprayed Rogo's car with bullets in an attack many Muslims in Mombasa blamed on the police, who denied involvement.
Police said at least 16 police officers were wounded in the grenade attack in Kisauni, a predominantly Muslim area, where youths set two churches on fire and barricaded roads with burning tyres as the riots spread to the outskirts of Kenya's second-biggest city, a tourist hub and major Indian Ocean port. "These are pure criminals, and now terrorists are infiltrating within to launch grenades at us. They are looting even chicken," Kigen told Reuters.
The city's main streets, usually thronged with shoppers and foreign tourists, were deserted and some shops were shuttered. Shopkeepers reported looting in some areas of the city and police said rioters had looted and set fire to a bank. One person was killed in riots on Monday when protesters set fire to several churches, stoking fears that the unrest may become more sectarian in a city where grenade attacks blamed on Somali militants and their sympathisers have already strained Muslim-Christian relations. Mombasa has a big Muslim minority.
Church leaders scrapped plans for a peaceful march on Tuesday for fear it might incite further clashes in a country where overall relations between Muslims and Christians have been relatively good. "We have been asking how we will defend ourselves. We are wondering how the killing of Rogo was related to churches and Christians. Muslims are now against the Christians and that is what we need to concentrate on," said Bishop Lawrence Dena.