(Newser)
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Two suspected cult members were shot, one fatally, after running amok with samurai swords outside the office of Malaysia's prime minister. Police say the man and woman took a policeman hostage to get past a security checkpoint and then went on the rampage in a parking lot, attacking vehicles with their swords, the Star reports. Officers opened fire, killing the man and injuring the woman, when the pair attacked a police vehicle as it arrived.
Investigators say the pair had only known each other for about a week before the bizarre attack. The man's wife told police that he had recently declared himself to be the Imam Mahdi, who is mentioned in some Islamic prophecies as the messiah who will restore justice to the world before Judgement Day. "We believe he belonged to a deviant religious group and we are investigating his motives," a police spokesman says.
