Racist Motive Not Ruled Out In Rochdale Killing

Police are not ruling out a racist motive as they investigate the suspected murder of a Muslim religious leader who was attacked in the street and left for dead.

Officers were called to a play area at the end of South Street in Wardleworth, Rochdale, on Thursday night, where they found the man with a serious head injury.

He was taken to hospital where he died a short time later.

The man had been walking home from a friend's house after earlier attending prayers at a local mosque.

The Jalalia Jaame Masjid mosque named him as Qari Jalal Uddin Saab. He is believed to have been in his 40s or 50s and acted as a Qari - a reciter of the Koran.

A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

The chief officer for the Rochdale Council of Mosques appealed for calm and asked people to let police carry out their investigation.

A post-mortem examination was due to take place on Friday.

Assistant Chief Constable Rebekah Sutcliffe, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "We are keeping a completely open mind as to what the motive for this attack is.

"I think it would be unhelpful at this stage really to speculate as to what has happened."

Ms Sutcliffe said a racial motive was being considered, but added: "At the moment we just cannot say one way or the other."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.