Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda, an extremist cleric who has links with the Islamist group Uamsho and is thought to be behind a recent acid attack on two British girls, was shot by police but escaped. Authorities had called for the arrest of Ponda, the Secretary of the Council of Islamic Organisation, for disobeying a court order to refrain from inciting unrest. The Committee to Protect Journalists said Tanzanian journalists have not been able to report freely for the past eight years because of insecurity and fear of reprisals.
