South African imam, openly gay, shot dead

Muhsin Hendricks, considered the world's first openly gay imam, was shot dead Saturday near the southern city of Gqeberha, South Africa, police said.

The imam, who ran a mosque intended as a safe haven for gay and other marginalised Muslims, was in a car with another person when a vehicle stopped in front of them and blocked their exit, the police said. "Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle," the Eastern Cape force said.

Hendricks, involved in various LGBTQ advocacy groups, came out as gay in 1996. He ran the Al-Ghurbaah mosque at Wynberg near his birthplace Cape Town. Hendricks, who was the subject of a 2022 documentary called "The Radical", had previously alluded to threats against him.