A prominent Muslim cleric called yesterday for the release of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq, and said two captive Italian female aid workers should also be freed despite Italy's military involvement in Iraq. The abduction of newsmen Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot is "prohibited by religion and logic," Egyptian-born, Qatar-based Sheikh Yussef Al-Qaradawi told a news conference.
| "prohibited by religion and logic"? Did his lips fall off or did the heads of his followers start to spin? |
"We are in contact with our brethren in the Council of (Muslim) Ulema in Iraq, (urging them to) exert efforts to end the crisis of the French journalists," who were kidnapped along with their Syrian driver on Aug. 20 by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, he said.
The group has demanded that France rescind a ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools, a demand rejected by Paris. Qaradawi said he had told French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier when they met in Cairo on Aug. 30 that while he himself was opposed to the headscarf ban, "this is one thing and the abduction of the two journalists is another, and we don't accept it at all." Barnier was in Cairo as part of a Middle East tour aimed at trying to win the journalists' release. Noting that France opposed last year's US-led war on Iraq, Qaradawi asked: "How can we equate those who stood by us with those who were against us?"
Qaradawi condemned all hostage-taking, saying it was banned under Islamic law and calling for the release of Italian charity workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who were snatched from their Baghdad office on Tuesday, despite the fact that Rome backed the war and maintains troops in Iraq. |