BLANTYRE, June 28: Malawi called in troops on Saturday to quell rioting by Muslims angered by reports that US officials had whisked five Al Qaeda suspects out of the country and the president vowed to crack down on the violence.

Witnesses said mobs attacked several buildings in a second day of rioting in the lakeside resort district of Mangochi, 180 kilometres northeast of the commercial capital, Blantyre.

Malawi’s sizable Muslim minority was outraged by unconfirmed reports that U.S. security officials had taken the five suspected militants out of the country on Tuesday with Malawi’s approval before they could appear in court.

The government dispatched troops to restore order and President Bakili Muluzi, himself a Muslim, said he would not tolerate religious violence.

“You know that I am a Muslim, I don’t hide that, but I am a peaceful Muslim. I will not allow anyone (to) start violence in the name of religion,” he said in the country’s south during a consecration ceremony for a Catholic bishop.

Police sources said an uneasy calm had settled on Mangochi, but tensions with the Christian majority were running high. Police Inspector General Joseph Aironi said two people had been arrested, taking the number of arrests to 13.

The fate of the five suspects — two Turks, one Saudi, one Kenyan and a Sudanese — has inflamed tensions in the landlocked southern African country of 10.6 million, which rarely sees religious clashes and has never before been linked to terrorism.

The men were arrested in joint operation with U.S. officials. US President George Bush is due to visit Africa next month.—Reuters