The Islamists in Mali aren’t bothering about winning hearts and minds. Hundreds of people protested their plan to chop off someone’s hand and a radio journalist was beaten up for urging the protesters on.
“We don’t want to know what this young man did, but they are not going to cut his hand off in front of us,” a resident said on Sunday, according to the AFP news agency.
Journalist Abdoul Malick Maiga has now regained consciousness after being beaten by MUJAO fighters, a doctor at Gao’s hospital told AFP.
One resident said Mr Maiga was attacked live on air.
Oumar Ould Hamaha, a fighter who said he was speaking as a MUJAO spokesman, confirmed the incident, according to the Reuters news agency.
“We don’t care about secularism, democracy, the international community or others. People must accept that we will impose Sharia whether they like it or not,” he said.
“It is not tramps like journalists who are going to stop us.”
The religion of peace.