Residents in northern Malian town lynch Jihadist

Citizens standing up against sharia is a good thing — lynching? Not so good. We should never become what these savages are. But this is a war and the people must fight for their freedom against Islamic law.

Residents in northern Malian town lynch Islamist: sources Reuters (thanks to Jack)

BAMAKO |
Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:30pm EST

(Reuters)
– Residents in the northern Malian town of Gao on Saturday lynched a
prominent Islamist leader in retaliation for the killing of a local
journalist earlier in the day, residents and the office of Mali’s
president said.

Residents in Gao, a northern
Malian town under Islamist rebel control since mid-2012, have previously
protested against the strict imposition of Islamic law but, if
confirmed, the lynching would be a first of a fighter by civilians.

The
incident comes after over a week of French air strikes on Islamist
positions sought to break the grip of al Qaeda-linked fighters on
northern Mali.

Gao journalist Kader
Toure was killed for having been suspected of working with foreign
radio stations, according to Issa Idrissa Toure, a former colleague.

“Islamic police commissioner Aliou Toure was killed by the youth in revenge,” Mazou Toure, a Gao resident added.

Telephone
networks in Gao are not working but both sources said they received the
information from people who had traveled outside the town.

French
broadcaster RFI interviewed a Gao resident by satellite telephone who
gave a similar version of events. Meanwhile, the official Twitter feed
of the office of Mali’s president also reported the information.

Toure, the police commissioner, was a local recruited by MUJWA Islamists who took control of Gao in June last year.

He
gained notoriety when he was reported to have cut off his own brother’s
hand as fighters imposed a strict form of Islamic law across northern
Mali.

French war planes have bombed Islamist bases in Gao but residents said a number of fighters still remain in the town.