100s rally in Qatar over Muslim killings in US

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of the Qatari capital of Doha to voice their anger at the recent killing of three Muslim students in the US, which the protesters described as “a terrorist act.”

The demonstrators marched in the capital’s Education City on Sunday, carrying banners reading “End hate crimes,” “Unity,” and “We all have the right to live free from hate.”

The march, organized by the Qatar Foundation, ended at the Ceremonial Court, where the protesters listened to a pre-recorded video message from the siblings of the victims, urging people not to perpetuate hate in their name, and saying that love overcomes hate.

The three victims, Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were shot dead by their white neighbor Craig Stephen Hicks near the University of North Carolina at the Chapel Hill campus on February 10.

Local police have launched a homicide investigation focusing on a potential dispute between Hicks and the three over a parking space, but the families of the victims have rejected that narrative, saying they were killed because of their religion, Islam. The families have also described the killing an “execution-style murder” and a “hate crime.”

Hicks is believed to hold strong opposition to religion, as he has posted dozens of anti-religious messages on his Facebook account. According to the victims’ family members, Hicks had threatened the students a number of times earlier while carrying a gun.

The killing of the three young Muslims has caused outrage among Muslims all over the world.