- BOMBAY (AFP) - Sectarian
violence in India's Solapur city, triggered by a protest over comments
by US Baptist minister Jerry Falwell against the Prophet Mohammed, continued
early Saturday leaving eight dead and over 90 injured, a police spokesman
said.
-
- "Sectarian clashes have been reported throughout
the night in which three more deaths have been reported as well as several
injured," a police officer from Solapur said.
-
- The official said of the five killed Friday, four died
in police firing and one in mob violence.
-
- Police had used gunfire Friday on crowds of rioters of
Muslim youths who clashed with groups of Hindus as the protest against
Falwell's remarks turned violent.
-
- "The situation at the moment remains tense and curfew
has been extended 'til noon today. Additional paramilitary forces have
been called as a security measure," the spokesman added.
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- Violence in Solapur had erupted when a crowd of Muslim
youths gathered in the city on Friday to protest Falwell's remarks, in
which he called Islam's founder "a terrorist".
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- Various Muslim bodies in the city had called for a strike
to protest these remarks. However, the strike turned violent when the mob
clashed with some Hindu groups.
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- A similar strike called by Muslim bodies in India's financial
capital, Bombay, however, ended peacefully.
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- Copyright © 2001 AFP
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