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Imam, Associate Gunned Down Outside New York Mosque

by VOA News

   A Muslim cleric and an associate have been shot dead in New York by a
   gunman who is still at large.

   Police say the gunman shot both victims in the back of the head
   Saturday afternoon at close range. Witnesses say the gunman fled the
   scene still holding the gun.

   The victims, identified as 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and his
   64-year-old associate, Thara Uddin, were shot as they left their mosque
   following afternoon prayers.

   The deadly incident took place outside the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque
   in the Ozone Park section of Queens.

   A motive for the shooting is not immediately known.

   Members of the Bengladeshi community served by the mosque say they want
   the shooting treated as a hate crime.