A rchive Date
[ 16-07-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2005/07/15/1133775-ap.html
Muslims say some attacks justified
By THOMAS WAGNER
July 15, 2005
LONDON (AP) - Muslim leaders and scholars condemned the London bombings Friday but stopped short of criticizing all suicide attacks, with some of them saying those targeting occupying forces are sometimes justified.
The 22 imams and scholars meeting at London's largest mosque said in a joint statement the perpetrators of the subway blasts had violated the Qur'an by killing innocent civilians and no one should consider them martyrs.
But some agreed in later in comments to reporters that attacks that focus on occupiers can sometimes be considered a form of defence.
"There should be a clear distinction between the suicide bombing of those who are trying to defend themselves from occupiers, which is something different from those who kill civilians, which is a big crime," said Sayed Mohammed Musawi, the head of the World Islamic League in London.
"The media in the West are mixing the difference between these two, and the result is that some of our Muslim youth are becoming more frustrated and they think that both are the same, even though Muslim law forbids killing any innocent lives," Musawi said. He spoke at a news conference at the London Central Mosque after the leaders and scholars read a statement condemning the July 7 attacks.
He spoke at a news conference that the leaders and scholars held after reading their statement condemning the July 7 attacks, and everyone in the group appeared to agree with Musawi.
There was no specific reference to the suicide attacks against coalition forces in Iraq or against Israelis in Israel, the two key areas where such violence has occurred recently.
Both Prime Minister Tony Blair's office and the Defence Ministry declined to comment on the remarks, saying they had seen neither the statement or heard the comments.
In their statement condemning the London bombings, the imams and scholars said the terrorism by a small group of radicals had victimized Muslims around the world by fostering "Islamophobia" among the general public.
"We are firmly of the view that these killings had absolutely no sanction in Islam, nor is there any justification whatsoever in our noble religion for such evil actions. It is our understanding that those who carried out the bombings in London should in no sense be regarded as martyrs," the statement said.
It urged all Muslims and non-Muslims to help authorities investigate the crime and to punish those who helped plan it.
The statement also said racism, unemployment and economic deprivation Muslims face in poor sections of cities such as Leeds - where three of the suspected bombers lived - "may be alienating some of our children and driving them toward the path of anger and desperation" in ways that are prohibited by Islam.
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