Anti-Charlie Hebdo rioters torch seven churches in Niger1/17/15
http://news.yahoo.com/least-two-churches-burned-niger-charlie-hebdo-protests-001911996.htmlNiamey (AFP) - Rioters burned at least seven churches Saturday in Niamey over the publication of a Prophet Mohammed cartoon on the cover of France's Charlie Hebdo weekly, an AFP correspondent reported.
Protesters were also headed for other churches in the capital of the poor west African country, the AFP reporter said.
"Some of us stayed barricaded in our homes. I have never been so scared in my life," a Christian mechanic told AFP.
"The government must put a stop to this," he added. "It doesn't look good for us."
Bars, hotels and various businesses under non-Muslim ownership or bearing signs of French companies were also targeted.
"As soon as the protesters started toward the grand mosque we knew this was coming," said Kiema Soumaila, manager of the Toulousain a well-known bar in Niamey.
"They burned everything after smashing anything that was glass on the road," Soumaila added.
About six groups of 200 to 300 protesters were believed to be rampaging through the city, a security source said.
Around 100 helmeted riot police stood in front of the Niamey cathedral at midday, protecting it from a crowd of stone-throwing youths.
Police had used tear gas earlier in the day to disperse a crowd of about 1,000 young people massed in front of Niamey's grand mosque who were armed with iron bars and clubs.
France's embassy in its former colony warned French citizens to stay indoors after rioters ransacked several French-linked businesses, including telephone kiosks run by Orange.
The satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has repeatedly published cartoons of Mohammed over the years and its latest issue, released on Wednesday, features a cartoon of Mohammed on its cover holding a "Je Suis Charlie" (I Am Charlie) sign under the headline "All Is Forgiven".
It came a week after attacks by three Islamists on its offices, a kosher supermarket and a policewoman left 17 people dead in and around Paris over three days, deeply shocking the country and sparking an outpouring of international support.
Many Muslims see any depiction of Islam's prophet as offensive, while many Western governments have defended Charlie Hebdo's right to freedom of expression.